Leakages shut down Kaiji dam

That leakage according to the Minister of Power Professor Bart Nnaji is capable of sub-merging the power station.   A press release signed by the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Power, Mr Ogbuagu Anikwe stated, “The Minister of Power, Professor Bart Nnaji regrets to inform Nigerians that the 760Megawatts Kanji Hydro Power […]

That leakage according to the Minister of Power Professor Bart Nnaji is capable of sub-merging the power station.

 

A press release signed by the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Power, Mr Ogbuagu Anikwe stated, “The Minister of Power, Professor Bart Nnaji regrets to inform Nigerians that the 760Megawatts Kanji Hydro Power Station in Niger State has been shut down. The shutdown followed excessive water leakage in the dam which could cause a flooding of the station.”

The statement which added that to forestall the flooding in the station, the other five units in the power station generating 330MW were shut down, noted that the minister had ordered all divers in the service of the station to be mobilized to trace the point of the water leakage in the dam and rectify the problem quickly.

The statement added that if the water leakage is not tackled immediately, it can affect the operations of the four units of the Jebba hydro station which currently produces 335MW.

Kainji hydro station was built in 1968 with installed capacity of 760MW but due to poor maintenance the plant has only been generating 450MW in recent years.

It was also reported that since the station was built, it has never been overhauled.

The minister apologized to Nigerians over power outage arising from the shutdown.