The government of Nigeria has issued a request for expressions of interest (EOI) for the operation and maintenance of a hydropower plant located in Kaduna State.

The Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMoWR) in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing (FMPW&H) is set to engage a Power Sector Operator/ Investor to, operate, maintain and manage the Phase I of the Gurara Hydropower Plant, with a total capacity of 30 MW.

The concessionaire should have the technical and financial capabilities to operate and maintain the Plant for optimum power generation all year round.

The Gurara Hydropower Plant was completed in 2011 and is attached to Gurara Dam, originally designed and constructed to supply water to the Lower Usuma Dam to meet water demand in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The Dam, situated 75km from the FCT, has a crest of 3.2km in length, maximum height of 54 meters and a reservoir capacity of 880 million cubic meters. The intake of the conveyance pipeline is located on the right bank; about 1.6km upstream of the Dam. It has a 45km high intake tower comprising of four independent 4m high and 2.5m wide intakes equipped with stop-logs and fixed screens located at different elevation to allow withdrawal of water of the required quality.

The plant is currently not operational due to non-completion of the transmission lines to support power evacuation to the grid. The transmission line is currently under construction and will be completed prior to the completion of the concession process and the full commissioning of the plant.

Further information about this opportunity is available here.