The Minister of Power, Mr Abubakar Aliyu  says that the  Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant in Niger state has injected  700 Megawatts(MW) to the National Grid to boost electricity.

Aliyu stated this during a farewell  party  for him and the Minister of State, Mr Goddy Jedy-Agba by the Ministry of Power on Friday in Abuja.

He said “Today the Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant has become a reality; we have as of today joined the grid with 700MW.

  Testing started Wednesday night.

“Information has reached us with the pictorial view of the meters showing us that the 700MW has gone on the grid , ‘’he said.

The minister said that the Kashimbila Hydroelectric Power Project, a joint project with the ministry of water resources, had been completed.

He said phase one of the project, which is the line taking electricity to Yandev in Benue over 240 kilometers, had been completed and  inaugurated last week.

On the Siemens project, Aliyu said that the ministry had installed transformers in Abuja, Ajah, Lagos, adding that 10 massive mobile substations had been cleared.

“ We have 10 of them at the port and the first one is in Ajah sub-station and some are also on the sea coming, ‘’ he said.

Aliyu also said that the ministry of power on Wednesday presented to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), a contract for over 13, 000kilometers distribution line.

He said that the contract was approved for the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI).

“One thing we should have in our minds is that these things don’t happen just at once, it is a process. These bring about delay of some of the projects, ‘’he said.

The minister urged all players in the industry to continue to work together in synergy to be able to achieve the desired results.

According to him, electricity is a value chain from generation to distribution, urging players to work in synergy.

Aliyu commended members of staff of the ministry and stakeholders in the sector, for the cordial working relationship.

He said that the ministers would not have achieved what they achieved without the support of the staff of the ministry.

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Power, Jedy-Agba also thanked the staff for the working relationship that existed between them.

“It is a long journey but I enjoyed working with you all as you took directives from us and you implemented them, ‘’ he said. (NAN)

By Mathew Dadiya, Abuja

The Federal Executive Council (FEC), Wednesday, approved multi -billion naira contracts to boost power supply in Daura President Muhammadu Buhari’s hometown in Katsina State, Yobe state and other parts of the country.

The Minister of Power, Engineer Abubakar Aliyu, announced this while briefing State House correspondents after the cabinet meeting chaired by President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Aliyu said: “Council approved award of contract for the engineering procurement, construction and financing on the implementation of 330 KV and 132 kV line transmission lines and 33 KV, 11 KV and 400 PE distribution line project under phase 1 of the presidential power initiatives in favour of two contractors in the sum total of $581,629,355.

93, inclusive of 7.5%, at the prevailing exchange rate with period of completion 36 months as indicated. “The recipient companies for lot one, from DL from Benin and Enugu DISCOS, Messes SLD electric. Then, Lot DM 3 Abuja, Jos, Kano, Kaduna DISCOS, Messes China civil engineering construction cooperation totaling distance of around 13,000 kilometers for the two LOT and it has been graciously approved by council.”

The minister also explained, that “Council approved the award of contract for the construction of 750 kilowatt solar PV power plant at the headquarters of the where TCN is also situated in favor of Proserv Energy Services Limited in the sum of N1.6 billion inclusive of 7.5% VAT with completion period of six months.”

He said “Council also approved a routine maintenance for the Transmission Company of Nigeria. The council approved contract for the upgrading of the substation in Potiskum town in Yobe State with 132 power transformer. It is an existing substation, which has been there for a very long time with only one transformer and it serves a lot of areas around Potiskum, it is the largest town in the State with a very huge population and is the hub for commerce and transportation. So, with this upgrade, Potiskum will become a hub for electricity transmission and distribution.

“The other component of it is the line bringing additional line from Damaturu. Before now, the line is coming from Gombe, which is over 200 kilometers. It is a 132 single line coming into Potiskum to power the substation. So, having now 330 substitution in Damaturu, that makes it easier and more prudent to take electricity from from Damaturu to Potiskum over a distance of 120 kilometers. Because the longer you take the electricity on a 132 line, you get low quality of electricity. 

“So, with the 132 from Gombe single line and now this proposed one coming from Damaturu to Potiskum, you will have double circuit and with additional transformer of 132 cable, that is one by 60 MB. The second one on that memo is construction of two by 60 MBA and 132 line a transmission substation at Sapade in Ogun state and in favor of Messes VNK international technologists at the total cost of a foreign component $10.2 million and local component of N3.3 billion naira. The third one is the supply and installation of 33 KV substation equipment at Emirate Katsina state, in favor of eases Power Deal Construction limited in the sum of N4 billion.”

Meanwhile, the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, said FEC approved Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) policy to help get women into the mainstream of financial plans and to ensure that they were carried along in nation building.

Also, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said the cabinet also approved the regularization of the Public Private Partnership arrangement between the Federal Ministry of Justice and Lexis of South Africa for the publication of the laws of the Federation of Nigeria.

Malami said that the judgement for P&ID case in UK would be delivered any moment from now.

He said the contract was reviewed to accommodate technological development and as well as application and operation of the ICRC Act as it relates to public private partnership. 

Malami said council also approved the operationalization and deployment of federal government contracts administration system.

He said it is a digitalized arrangement to ensure that the interest of the federal government was not compromised in the art of drafting contracts.

The minister added that council approved the renewal of the implementation of public private partnership arrangement between the Federal Ministry of Justice and Messsrs Jeffreps Integrated Services Limited for the publishing and marketing of the Court of Appeal specialized law reports. 

“But this time around we are taking into consideration the new innovations with particular reference the public private partnership arrangement which has not been the tradition before. And then the ICRC Act, which has not been in existence, and new innovation associated with technology, to have them accommodated in the contract going forward.

“Law reform is a compendium of the judgments of the Court of Appeal over time,” the Minister stated.

By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

Following the approval for the management concession of the 360 Mega Watts Gurara II Multipurpose Dam & Hydro Power Plant and the 40 Mega Watts Kashimbilla Hydro Power Plant, the Federal Government is expected to rake in about N647.7 billion from the plants.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had on Wednesday, approved an Operation and Management concession for the 360 Mega Watts Gurara II Multipurpose Dam & Hydro Power Plant and the 40 Mega Watts Kashimbilla Hydro Power Plant under a Public Private Partnership model.

The move by FEC was sequel to the regulatory guidance of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), which also saw the approval for the concession of Secure e-ticketing Solutions for the Lagos Ibadan Rail Service and the Warri-Itakpe Rail Service as well as the Device Management System, a project by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

A statement by ICRC Acting Head of Media & Publicity, Mr Ifeanyi Nwoko on Friday, said the approvals by FEC “will bring about the generation of 400 mega watts of electricity, infusion of private sector funds into the nation’s economic/infrastructure development and a total revenue generation of N647.7 billion”.

The statement also noted that the move “will also help in the fight against crime, terrorism and insecurity while improving the effectiveness of the rail services in the specified routes”.

The 360MW Gurara II HPP is a greenfield project that will adopt a Build, Operation, Maintenance and Transfer PPP model that will be executed by Messrs. CGCOC Group Co. Limited under an Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for a concession period of 30 years.

The dam, hydropower plant, and other complementary infrastructure will be executed within a concession period of 30 years and an expected total revenue generation of $875million USD within the period.

Both the Gurara and the Kashimbilla HPP projects will bring about improved living conditions and employment, Promotion of agriculture through irrigation, reduction of Greenhouse Gases as well as foreign exchange preservation.

For the Kashimbilla 40MW HPP the executive council’s approval is for the operations and maintenance of the Hydropower Plant.

Recall that one of the primary objectives of the dam is to mitigate the environmental disaster associated with overflow of flood water in various downstream states of Taraba, Benue, Kogi, Delta, Cross River and Bayelsa, and potentially affecting more than 6 million people.

The hydropower component of the Dam will also aid in ecological flood control, water supply for a population of about 400,000 people, irrigation potentials for about 3,000 hectares of arable land for farming as well as fishing to support food security.

Project cost is put at ₦ 7.68 billion approved for a concession period of 15 years. It will yield a total revenue of ₦ 85 billion.

The Device Management System which has the NCC as guarantor, seeks to provide a single control point for comprehensive device management for mobile communication devices in Nigeria.

Specifically, the proposed DMS will support capabilities for tracking of mobile communication devices to eliminate fake and substandard devices, provide detailed statistical information for stakeholders use, and support the fight against cybercrime and insecurity.  

It adopts a Design, Build, Finance, Operate, Maintain and Manage PPP model for a concession period of 10 years at a cost of $26 million. A total revenue generation of N86.6 billion.

For the Lagos-Ibadan E-ticketing and the Warri-Itakpe concessions, they adopt a Design, Finance, Build, Operate and Manage a Secure Ticketing Solution (Hardware and Software) for the Passengers’ Stations.

The solution seeks to ensure the provision of electronic tickets (e-tickets) and manual tickets, provision of adequate infrastructural security, deployment of adequate maintenance regime, provision of adequate training regime and provision of value-for-money throughout the life of the solution.

The Lagos-Ibadan concession was approved at a cost of N1,100,000,000 (N1.1 billion), granted to Messers Global Software Digital Solutions Ltd (GSDS) and Datamataic Global Services Ltd (DGS) as technical partner, for a period of 10 years.

A total of ₦112.8 billion will be generated from this project.

The Warri-Itakpe counterpart will be executed at the cost of is N860,806,423, granted to Fane International Consult Limited and Artificial Intelligence Technologies Limited (AITL) as technical partner, also for a 10-year term.

Revenue generation is estimated at N63.3 billion.