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His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, announced the official commissioning of the Kashimbila multipurpose dam, including a 40MW hydropower station and associated 132-kV switchyard, transmission line and distribution substations.
Kashimbila Dam has a storage capacity of 500 million cubic metres and “was conceived principally to checkmate the threat of the imminent collapse of the structurally weak and poisonous Lake Nyos, located at the line of volcanic activities in Cameroun Republic, which collapse could result in flooding and affecting millions of lives and properties,” Buhari said.
The engineering design maximized the benefits of the Kashimbila ecosystem by incorporating a 40MW Hydropower Station, 60,000 cubic metre per day water supply scheme, 2,000 hectares of irrigation system, an airstrip, fishing activities and tourism potential.
Buhari said this is Phase 1 of the power evacuation component of the project, in Taraba State. Specifics of what phases might follow and what work they entail were not disclosed.
“The realization of this project demonstrates our commitment to achieving the target of Electricity Vision 30:30:30, which entails the supply of 30 GW of electricity by 2030 with renewable energy contributing at least 30% to the energy mix to accelerate the increase in access to electricity,” Buhari said
Hydropower capacity in Nigeria could grow to 15.5GW by 2050, according to the Renewable Energy Roadmap: Nigeria from the International Renewable Energy Agency.
Buhari said other similar projects, such as the 40 MW Dadinkowa Hydropower Plant in Gombe State and the 700 MW Zungeru Hydropower Plant in Niger State, are also ready for commissioning.
