One of the key points of the first Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari after his 104 days medical vacation in London, on Wednesday approved the sum of $5.792bn for the engineering work of the Mambilla Hydro Electric Power Plant in Taraba State.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, at the end of the weekly meeting of the council.
He said the construction would take approximately six years because of the extensive nature of the scope of work, stressing that other arms of the job include the construction of four dams, one of which is expected to be 150 metres high; two others will be 70 metres high while the smallest dam will be 50 metres in height.
Continuing, the minister said “Several efforts have been made to bring the project to reality since 1972, which is about 45 years ago, but I am happy to announce to you that this government approved the award of the contract today through a joint venture with a Chinese civil engineering company for the engineering contract, including civil and electro-mechanical works, for $5.792 billion”.
“The construction should take about 72 months, which is roughly about six years. The scope of works is very extensive. It requires the construction of four dams: one of them is a 150 metres in height, intermediate two are 70 metres in height and the smallest of them is 50 metres in height.
“The 150 metres one is essentially the size of a 50-storey building because you have approximately 3 metres per floor.
“The intermediate one is higher than a 20-storey building. It also includes 700 kilometre of transmission line. It will be in Taraba State, in the area called Gengu. It will involve a lot of preparatory work and resettlement.
“It will really unleash the potential that have been reported about Mambilla: agriculture, tourism and also for energy.
“It will also help Nigeria to strike a big blow on the climate change issue and fulfill its commitment under the Paris agreement because this is going to be renewable energy, coming also at a relatively competitive cost,” Fashola noted.
