Nigeria invites bids for Zungeru hydropower plant concession

The Nigerian government is inviting investors to bid for the concession of the 700 megawatts-capacity Zungeru hydropower plant in Niger State.

The Bureau of Public Enterprise says it is looking for a competent concessionaire to operate, manage and maintain the hydropower plant for 30 years.

The bidding process has two stages, the qualification stage and the bid stage, the BPE said in a document published on its website.

The country’s privatisation agency has set November 24 as deadline for the Request for Qualification.

It said only shortlisted applicants will be invited to the second phase of the bidding.

The plant comprises a reservoir at an elevation of 230 metres, and a powerhouse containing four 175 megawatts turbine/generating units for a total rated output of 700MW.

The Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, while visiting the plant site last Wednesday said the project has reached 96 per cent completion.

He said the project will be commissioned by the first quarter of 2023.

“The project is set to be commissioned soon, as part of the federal government’s efforts to improve electricity supply across Nigeria and to fulfil President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to vision 30:30:30 and achieve ng NetZero by 2060, as promised at COP—26,” he said.

Nigeria’s successive governments have made promises to improve the country’s electricity sector, which on average generates approximately 4,000 megawatts for a population of 200 million. They have fallen short of their goals.