16th May, 2024
Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, says the Federal Government of Nigeria targets 10,000 megawatts through its Sustainable Power and Irrigation Project for Nigeria in collaboration with the World Bank.
Adelabu said this during the African High-Level Roundtable on Sustainable Hydropower in the African Renewable Energy Mix of the 21st Century, held in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said: “SPIN aims to unlock additional 10GW combined capacity from existing dams with provision for hydro but not fitted, partially incomplete dams with provisions for hydropower, Greenfield projects and existing multipurpose dams that can be modified/redesigned and retrofitted”.
Speaking further, he said, “We must address environmental concerns around dam construction and ecosystem disruption, alongside social impacts on local communities. This requires a commitment to sustainability, stakeholder engagement, and innovative solutions to financing these large-scale projects.”
He listed the major hydropower projects Nigeria has completed to include the 760 MW Kainji,578 MW Jebba, 600 MW Shiroro, 40 MW Mabon, 700 MW Zungeru and 40 MW Kashimbila hydropower stations.
He said: “The country has over 340 dams spread across different geo-political zones, under the management of the three government tiers and many are not optimally utilized or at risk of damage.
“For the small hydropower, a multitude of river systems, providing about 70 micro dams, 126 mini dams, and 86 small sites, supply a technically exploitable capacity of 3.5GW, but only 1.7per cent (0.06GW) of these resources are currently being tapped, while there are about 10GW of potential untapped capacities from the large and medium-sized hydropower”.