When the federal government conceived the idea of a 215-megawatt power plant in Kaduna as part of efforts to revive industries that folded up due to unstable power supply, little did those expected to benefit from the project envisage that it would remain incomplete 11 years after.
The contract for northern Nigeria’s biggest power plant project, awarded in November 2009 to General Electric and Rockson Engineering for a dual thermal plant, using Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) and natural gas, was expected to have been concluded on December 31, 2013. But almost eight years after the expiration of its deadline and having gulped over N100 billion, the project is yet to take off.
Located around the Kudenda industrial area, off Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway in Kaduna, the power plant, a project of the Federal Ministry of Power, was designed to use eight installed turbine units to add to the power supply in the industrial area. It was expected that with its eventual take-off, 12 textile factories located at the Kakuri industrial area would be the main beneficiaries. Due to its delayed takeoff, however, more textile companies have folded up in Kaduna, with thousands said to have lost their jobs.
Findings by Daily Trust on Sunday had revealed that due to several challenges, the deadline for the completion of the project had been shifted several times.
In 2019, an investigation by Daily Trust on Sunday revealed that the initial completion deadline of December 31, 2013, was shifted to June 2014 and later extended to 2017. With the other challenges resulting from the poor state of roads that made it difficult to transport imported equipment from the Onne port to the site, the initial takeoff of the project suffered delay.
Read More: https://dailytrust.com/norths-biggest-power-plant-still-stalled-11-years-after
