Nigeria’s FEC selects Chinese firm to build $5.8bn Mambilla hydropower plant

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) in Nigeria has awarded an engineering contract to China Civil Engineering Construction (CCECC) to build the $5.8bn hydroelectric power project in Mambilla.

When completed, the project is expected to generate 3,050MW of electricity, reported Bloomberg.

CCECC was approved for the project following a memorandum submission to the FEC by Nigeria’s Power, Works, and Housing Minister Babatunde Fashola.

In October 2005, the FEC approved a preparatory cost of N2bn ($55m) for the Mambilla hydropower project, which is expected to be completed in around six years once construction begins.

Fashola was quoted by Nigerian Tribune as saying: “The scope of works is very extensive. It requires construction of four dams. One of them is 150m in height, while the intermediate two are 70m in height and the smallest is 50m in height.

“Just for concept and scope, the 150m one is essentially the size of a 50 storey building, because you have approximately 3m a floor.

“The intermediate one is roughly a 20 storey building. It also includes 700km of transmission lines. It will be in Taraba State, in the area called Gengu.”

China’s Export-Import Bank will provide 85% of the funding, while Nigeria’s Government will supply the remaining funds.

---

Image: A hydro power plant in Ghana. Photo: courtesy of Arne Hoel/The World Bank/ Flickr.