The Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station is a 3,050 MW hydroelectric power project under development in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. When completed, it will be the largest power-generating installation in the country, and one of the largest hydroelectric power stations in Africa.

Location

The power station is located in Kakara village, in

Taraba State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Taraba.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Taraba State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , ...

, Nigeria. This is near the town of Gembu, close to the border with

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. The power station sits across the

Donga River The Donga River is a river in Nigeria and Cameroon. The river arises from the Mambilla Plateau in Eastern Nigeria, forms part of the international border between Nigeria and Cameroon, and flows northwest to eventually merge with the Benue River in ...

, and consists of four dams and two underground power houses. Gembu is approximately , by road, southeast of Wukari, the nearest large town, all in Taraba State.

Overview

Constructed in 1982, the main Mambilla Dam is a large

roller-compacted concrete Roller-compacted concrete (RCC) or rolled concrete (rollcrete) is a special blend of concrete that has essentially the same ingredients as conventional concrete but in different ratios, and increasingly with partial substitution of fly ash for Po ...

dam and

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

at above sea level. From this dam, water is diverted off the reservoir towards the western side of the plateau through four hydraulic tunnels totaling , intercepted by four smaller dams: Nya, Sum Sum, Nghu, and Api Weir. Beyond these dams, the tunnels lead into a drop shaft tunneled down through the rock to a massive

underground power station An underground power station is a type of hydroelectric power station constructed by excavating the major components (e.g. machine hall, penstocks, and tailrace) from rock, rather than the more common surface-based construction methods. One or mor ...

with a generating capacity of . Passing through a short tunnel, the water then exits the base of the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

and flows into a tributary river that rejoins the Donga River downstream of the plateau.

Development

On 30 August 2017, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the award of the construction contract to a

consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...

Gezhouba Group China Gezhouba Group Company Limited () is a Chinese construction and engineering company based in Wuhan, Hubei. As of 2014, the company is the 33rd largest contractor by revenue in the world. The major shareholder of the company (40.8%) is state ...

, Sinohydro, and

CGCOC Group CGCOC Group Co., Ltd. () formerly known as CGC Overseas Construction Group Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese construction company that ranks among the 100 largest contractors based on international projects according to the annual ''Engineering News Reco ...

. The Mambilla Hydropower Plant Project has been planned for over 40 years. It is expected to connect to four dams across the Donga River. The first preliminary feasibility study for the Mambilla Hydropower Plant was reportedly carried out by Moto Columbus in 1972, but attempts to construct the power station up to now have been unsuccessful.

Funding

The total cost of the project is budgeted at US$5.8 billion. The

Exim Bank of China The Export–Import Bank of China (Chexim - China Exim Bank) () is one of two institutional banks in China chartered to implement the state policies in industry, foreign trade, economy, and foreign aid to other developing countries, and prov ...

has agreed to lend 85 percent (US$4.93 billion) towards the construction. The funds will be paid directly to the construction consortium in tranches, as the work progresses. The Federal Government of Nigeria has committed to contribute 15 percent (US$870 million) of the construction costs.

Construction

In November 2017, there were attempts to start construction of this power station. However, due to various constraints, including landslides, and a lawsuit at the International Court of Arbitration, the project stalled again. In February 2020, following the resolution of the lawsuit, there were fresh attempts to resume construction. Construction is expected to take at least seven years from start to finish, due to the technical complexity of the project. A more realistic completion date is 2030.

Other considerations

Construction of this power station is expected to generate 50,000 temporary and permanent jobs. The power generated will be sold to the Transmission Company of Nigeria, which will transmit it to two locations, where it will be integrated into the Nigerian electricity grid; one 330kV high voltage transmission line will connect to Jalingo and two to Makurdi. The entire new planned high voltage transmission system measures over .

References

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External links

Mambilla Hydropower Station Project, funded by Chinese lenders, in Nigeria
as of 14 February 2018. Hydroelectric power stations in Nigeria Taraba State Proposed hydroelectric power stations Underground power stations Proposed renewable energy power stations in Nigeria