The Federal Government has completed the 40MW Kashimbila Hydropower Plant in Takum Local Government Area of Taraba State.
The power plant - which is part of the benefits of the multi-purpose buffer dam along the Katsina-Ala River - is expected to satisfy up to 80% of the power needs of the southern parts of Taraba state.
The project began in the 1990s and was subsequently abandoned by past administration until the Muhammadu Buhari's administration resumed its construction in 2016.
The hydro-electric power plant, consisting of four 12.1 MVA Gamesa Electric vertical hydro generators, is expected to increase Nigeria's available generating capacity, currently put in excess of 13,000mw. It will also help in further diversifying Nigeria's energy mix which is presently heavily skewed towards fossil fueled generation.The 3,050mw Mambilla Power plant also currently under construction will similarly play a great role in both increasing power generation and providing improving Nigeria's renewable energy generation profile. Kashimbila will serve as an evacuation corridor for power generated from Mambilla when completed.
In 2020, the Minister of Power, Engr Sale Mamman disclosed that the Federal Government had approved the sum of $120m to complete the power evacuation component of the project which was at the time, 90% completed.
Nigeria has been described as one of the most 'energy poor' nations in the world with less Nigerians per capita having access to electricity supply than most countries in the world. For years, the county's economy has continued to falter under the pressure of this inadequacy. The 13,000mw generating capacity, less than than 5,000mw can be wheeled successfully by the Transmission Company of Nigeria to distribution companies for onward distribution to end users.
A recent World Bank report had pointed to the disparity between production cost and end user tariff as a key issue discouraging much needed investment in the sector.
In addition to power supply, the Kashimbila dam will also provide access to drinking water as well as water for irrigation estimated to have the capacity to irrigate up to 3,000 hectares of land during the dry season. It will also help regulate the seasonal flooding of the Katsina Ala River which annually threatens more than 6 million people across Taraba, Benue, Kogi, Cross River and Delta states.
