Concerns over Katsina wind power delay take off

The 10 megawatts (mw) Katsina Wind Farm is worth N4.4 billion. The plant, which was started as a pioneer project in 2010, is taking about six years to complete.

Sited at Lamber Rimi in Rimi Local Government Area of the state, the wind farm was awarded to a French firm, Messrs Vergnet SA in 2010 and scheduled for completion in 2012.

The project, which was initiated by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua when he was governor of Katsina State, was subsequently taken over by the federal government after he became president in 2007.

The project, officials in the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing confided, was caught in delays over the kidnap of a major expatriate on the job.

Officials in the Goodluck Jonathan administration had pegged its completion at October 2014, but the date was not realised. The deadline was then shifted to May with eventual commissioning by June 2015. That too slipped by.

Our correspondent, who visited the site recently, observed that no visible work has been done in the last seven months at the site. In May, he noticed that not more than five wind turbines had been mounted out of the 37 units.

Each turbine, it was learnt, could generate 275 kilowatts (kw) of power, and mounted at a height of 55 metres. Some of the already fabricated turbines were visibly laid at the site.

The Daily Trust reports that about three years ago, the lead contractor was abducted for a year when officials said the project was about 90 per cent completion.

A director at the ministry said, late in 2015, that the project would have been completed if the French engineer had not been kidnapped. He said after his release in 2014, the expatriate said he wouldn’t continue with the job, hence a little delay.

But the then Minister of State for Power, Mohammed Wakil, in August 2014, spoke of commissioning a technical audit of the plant. In a statement, he said, “The Katsina wind farm will soon be commissioned as the technical audit has commenced. Engineers were deployed to site a week ago.”

Wakil disclosed that construction had been transferred to a Nigerian firm trained in France after the original contractors wavered following the abduction of their lead engineer. Former president, Jonathan, also visited the site in April 2014 and directed that the project be sped up.

On why the project was stalled after the directive, sources in the ministry said the trainees to audit the plant were rounding off their training in France.

Former Permanent Secretary, Dr Godknows Igali in May 2015 said its success would determine if wind energy can work in the sahelian part of northern Nigeria.

“We joined another company with the original contractor since the first company refused to come back, so another company took over the job and it is about 95 per cent completed. What is left is just a few other details of electrical activities and testing.

“The transmission alignment by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to strengthen the grid has also been completed,” he had said.

The change in administration has dealt another setback to the project as the new government had to be briefed before taking up existing power projects.

A director at the ministry, who was not authorised to speak on the project, said once the Presidency approves the detail and audit note, work would be completed at the site.

With the neglect, rodents have tampered with cables and other earlier installations; that warranted the technical audit to correct such degradation, he said.

Another official said budget for the project, which is at 95 per cent completion level, was constrained in 2015 due to administrative changes.

Although he hinted votes would be factored into the 2016 power budget for its completion, that did not happen in the proposed budget.

The Daily Trust could not immediately confirm if some of the equipment needed to complete it, especially the transformer for its operation, has been brought in from Lagos, as officials said it arrived Lagos before October 2015.

Sector experts are urging the completion of the project, saying it would boost renewable energy efficiency and allow for more such projects in compatible localities.

The National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), along with GIZ of Germany in 2015, commissioned a training wind plant under its hybrid plants at its Kainji Regional Training Centre, Niger state.

A consultant privy to the energy option said NAPTIN was already training on wind energy, but feared there may be no job for such graduates if the pilot project is not commissioned to break grounds for investors, especially those coming under the President Obama’s Power Africa initiative.

There was signing of over 20 pacts with the former Minister, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, mostly on solar power plants and few gaspowered plants across some states.

Unfortunately, there was none on the building of a windpowered plant, even when the Ebonyi state government has collaborated on building a biomass-powered plant with fuel from rice husks. The 10mw wind power plant remains an option to be explored this year.