18 September 2013, Abuja – Nigeria is endowed with hydropower potential of about 15,000mega watts, mw, unit of which 23 per cent is small hydropower, the Director-General, Energy Commission of Nigeria, ECN, Prof. Eli Jidere Bala, has said.
He spoke in Abuja during the five-day training course on conducting feasibility studies on Small Hydro Plants by renewables academy (RENAC), Germany.
According to him, “small hydropower schemes of capacities of less than 30mw are known to be environmentally friendly and contributes less to Green House emissions, a major cause of climate change.
“SmallHydropower potentials are also available in many parts of rural communities , where majority of the population reside.”
Bala, who attributed the training to this situation, noted that the training would focus on small hydropower plants feasibility studies to enable the country to have personnel that will identify potentials in suitable sites that can be used to set up the Small Hydropower Power (SHP) plants in virtually any part of Nigeria.
He said their suitability for stand-alone utilisation in the rural parts of Nigeria can be further justified by noting that many viable mini plants (less than 100kw) are actually ‘run -of- the river’ schemes that require a minimal amount of civil works.
– The Nation
