To strengthen Nigeria’s energy infrastructure, the World Bank revised a $350 million Loan to guarantee the completion of seven crucial power plants in educational institutions. The Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) Restructuring Document points out that this restructuring entails extending the project’s completion date. The revised deadline for the loan project is now December 31, 2024, an extra five months later than the original date. All the seven plants are now planned to be completed by the end of Q3 2024. The subprojects in Calabar and Maiduguri are slated to conclude by the end of September 2024.
The onset of the Sustainability strategy and site transfer will be the main priorities of the last quarter of the year. Throughout this phase, the EPC contractors are required to offer a performance guarantee to cover the time of operation and maintenance. The NEP is categorized into various parts, such as the creation of mini-grids in the private sector, the extension of independent solar power systems for low-income and vulnerable households, and the supply of sustainable Electricity to public universities and related teaching hospitals. As of June 2024, the project had installed standalone solar systems in almost 1.09 million homes and micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) and mini-grid grants in nearly 59,000 families and small and medium-sized (SMEs)
University of Abuja power plant project is 65% done.
Notwithstanding these outcomes, Component 3—the Energising Education Program Phase II (EEP II)—has underperformed, with completion rates varying from 35% to 80% at various sites. The document states that $350 million will be committed to the project in total. There remains an undisbursed balance of $84.68 million after the most recent update showed that $265.32 million had been dispersed. The power plant project at the University of Abuja is 65 percent done. However, there are difficulties of uneven terrain that creates inter-row shadowing, rocky ground that necessitates the use of several fastening techniques, and a deteriorating access road.
Its expanded scope of work includes retaining wall construction, 1.4 km of access road construction, and anchorage footing drilling and casting. 85 percent of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike project is finished. It also had difficulties resulting from the transmission line’s materials varied and didn’t adhere to regulatory requirements. The replacement of 12.6 km of aluminium conductor with steel-reinforced line represents the additional work necessary. Meanwhile, 65 percent of the University of Calabar & Teaching Hospital project is finished.
Downstream distribution network at the Gashua project is done.
Major hurdles faced are an area where debris is gathered from floodwaters, an inadequate drainage network that results in flooding, and unsuitable soil for pile driving. The supplementary range of tasks entails building fresh drainage pathways, recovering regions impacted by flooding, and forming footings for anchoring. At 79 percent of completion, the University of Maiduguri & Teaching Hospital project is progressing. Obstacles included an 11 kV line takeover, an inadequate soil for civic structures, a military-grade trench and a garbage dump site. The extra work consists of building a double circuit transmission line, backfilling the military trench and reclaiming the area used for the garbage dump.
Ongoing process on the project at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta is 90 percent done. The constraints confronted include the excavation of a right-of-way encroachment, an expanded drainage discharge point, and the removal of a basement igneous rock formation. Due to the increased scope of work, the drainage channel must be extended, and the transmission line must be rerouted and underground cabling must be installed. At the Federal University, Gashua project, the downstream distribution network has been fully constructed. But there were difficulties due to the quick development of university Infrastructure and rising electricity consumption. Construction of an additional 8.7 km of an 11 kV distribution network is the extended work required.
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Meanwhile, just 15 percent of the upstream distribution network project has been done at the Nigeria Defence Academy in Kaduna. Among the difficulties faced are a transmission line that has been vandalized and the requirement for more single-circuit infrastructure. Its expanded scope of work includes building a 16-kilometer 33-kV single circuit transmission line and rebuilding the vandalized 33-kV double circuit. The goal of the NEP, which was first approved on June 27, 2018, is to improve access to energy services for underserved MSMEs, public institutions, and homes. Construction of the power plants, which is crucial to the project success, was earlier delayed by some factors.