Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Federal Government has expressed preparedness to concession the 30 megawatts Gurara hydropwer plant located in Kaduna State.
Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, disclosed this when he received the Full Business Case compliance (FBC) certificate from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), in Abuja, yesterday.
Adamu explained that as soon the project gets the nod of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), it would be made public.
He said: “With the experience that have been garnered from the concessioning of the Gurara hydropower plant, we are now set to accelerate the pace of engagement with the private partners for other available facilities.
“This issue of developing our hydropower is one of the key components of our road map we developed in 2015. At that time we realised that potential of hydro power had not been exploited.”
Meanwhile, ICRC’s Director General, Chidi Izuwah, noted that the Full Business Certificate compliance has shown that the ministry has completed all technical and financial transactions for the hydropower component of the dam to be concessioned.
Izuwah posited that ICRC chose the North South Power Company as preferred bidder and Mainstream Energy Solutions as the reserved bidder. He said it was in line with international best practices.
“The private sector has chosen capacity. Look at what the private sector has done in Shiroro and Jebba hydropower plants. When Shiriro was concessioned, it was doing barely 200 megawatts, today, it is doing 600 megawatts. The private sector has demonstrated capability in being able to unleash these facilities for the benefit of Nigerians. We need power; the concessionaire himself has shown commitment to see that this project commenced pledging to bring his own funds,” he added.