16 completed dams can generate 135mw of electricity, says Ochekpe

Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Ochekpe

Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Ochekpe, said on Tuesday in Abuja that 16 out of 37 completed dams in Nigeria were capable of generating 135.15 megawatts of electricity.

Ochekpe, who stated this at the 2014 Ministerial Platform in collaboration with the Ministry of Information, said this was one of the major projects achieved by the ministry within four years.

“The Ministry engages in the construction, operation and maintenance of dams nationwide to impound raw water for potable water supply, hydropower, irrigation, fishery development, flood control, tourism and other recreational activities.

“And in the past four years, we have been able to complete 37 dams of various sizes, rehabilitated 10 dams and we have about 149 dams also of various capacities under construction across the country.

“When these dams are fully completed, we expect that we will be able to increase the quantity of water impounded in our dams by 3.6 billion cubic litres.

“Out of the 37 completed dams, 16 are with hydropower potential capable of generating 135.15 Megawatts of electricity.

“Some existing dams we have worked on within these four years include: Goronyo Dam emergency spillway in Sokoto; Alau Dam in Borno; Tiga and Chalawa Gorge Dams in Kano; Hadejia-Jamare Barrage in Hadejia.’’

The Minister said one of the major projects the ministry has paid a lot of attention to was the development of Kashimbilla dam.

According to her, the project has attained 87 per cent completion and is intended to ease flood from the imminent collapse of Lake Nyos upstream in Cameroon.

Ochekpe said the ministry was also focused on irrigation projects to ensure food security due to the fact that irrigation had the potential of increasing the agricultural productivity by as much as tenfold.

“Irrigation is also important for employment generation and poverty alleviation in rural areas,’’ Ochekpe said. (NAN)