Zungeru Dam in Nigeria to be commissioned in four phases

Zungeru Dam in Nigeria is set to be commissioned in four phases in the first quarter of 2022. Chinese company Sinohydro made the announcement and further said the Zungeru will be the second largest hydroelectric scheme in Nigeria.

Sinohydro is building the Zungeru dam and hydropower plant in consortium with its compatriot China National Electric Engineering Company (CNEEC). The two companies built a roller-compacted concrete dam on the Kaduna River, a tributary of the Niger River. The dam has a height of 101 m and a length of 233 m, forming a reservoir capable of storing 10.4 billion m3 of water. The plant’s four turbines will inject 2.64 billion kWh per year into Nigeria’s national power grid.

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Nigeria’s electricity demand 

Construction of the Zungeru hydroelectric dam will be completed, set to be completed this year will have a capacity of 700 MW. The first unit of the power plant, equipped with a 175 MW turbine, will be commissioned in the first quarter.

“The other three turbines will be commissioned in the second, third and fourth quarters of the year, for an installed capacity of 700 MW. This will be the culmination of a mega-project whose construction phase began in 2013. On the project site, work is 95% complete. But everything will be ready for the commissioning of the first turbine in a few weeks”, assures Li Xiao Ming, the deputy director of the project.

The Federal Government of Nigeria financed 75% of the work through a preferential loan from Exim Bank of China. The new facility is expected to meet 10% of Nigeria’s electricity needs according to the federal government.