FG shops for firms to concession 10MW Katsina wind plant

The Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) are shopping for management firms to concession the 10 megawatts (MW) Katsina wind farm.

As part of its Distribution Expansion Programme (DEP), the Federal Government, in a Procurement Notice said interested companies should apply for the opportunity to manage the 37 wind turbines, the associated generation and distribution facilities and 200 hectares land situated at Lambar Rimi in the state.

It is also requesting the integration of Solar Power generation capacity into the existing facility (wind farm); and supply of uninterrupted power to selected eligible customers in the vicinity of the wind farm.

The notice, endorsed by the Permanent Secretary (Power), Louis Edozien, said the excess power will be supplied to a licensed Distribution Company (DisCo) at the Katsina TCN substation all under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

Daily Trust reports that the ministry and its contractor had assured on the commissioning of a part of the wind farm by the end of March 2018.

Our reporter who visited the site recently found that some of the turbines were operating. The consultant and Assistant Project Manager for O.T. Otis Engineering, Pius Onyenagubo, said the operational part will be commissioned last month.

“The 15 fully installed turbines will be commissioned by the end of March while the others will be commissioned by the end of the year,” Onyenagubo had said.

He noted that nine of the 15 installed turbines were operational and delivered 4.5MW already on a test run, while six others required some minimal maintenance.

However, as at the time of filing this report, it was not clear if the plant has been commissioned as there was no official announcement from the ministry on that.