FG commends UNILORIN over hydro-power project

The Federal Government has commended the

indigenous hydropower project of the National Centre for Hydro-power Research and Development (NACHRED), Unilorin Centre, which is powered by the University dam.

The Director General of the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), Prof. Eli Jidere Bala, gave the commendation when he visited the University on an inspection tour of the NACHRED Centre under construction and the hydropower project.
NACHRED, an agency under the supervision of ECN, is tasked with organising and conducting research and development in hydropower management and technologies.

Prof. Bala noted that the Chinese built most hydropower projects in the country, adding that it is a welcome development to have a functional hydropower plant built entirely by Nigerians.

The ECN boss disclosed that the University of Ilorin was chosen to host the NACHRED project because of its reputation as a renowned institution in the country, promising that the Commission would continue to support the University.

He congratulated Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, on his appointment as the 11th Vice-Chancellor of the University and prayed God to grant him a successful tenure.

Welcoming the ECN boss, the Vice Chancellor thanked the Commission for choosing the University of Ilorin for the NACHRED project and charged the hydropower team to intensify research and get the best output.

The Director of NACHRED, University of Ilorin Centre, Prof. A. W. Salami, later took the ECN team on a tour of the NACHRED building and the hydropower station.

In his remarks while conducting Prof. Bala and his team round, Prof. Salami said, “This is the first phase of the project, and 5KW of power is being generated for observation and analysis, with great care being taken to ensure that we do not compromise the dam’s structural integrity.”

The Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) was established by Act No. 62 of 1979, as amended by Act No. 32 of 1988 and Act No. 19 of 1989 with the statutory mandate for the strategic planning and coordination of national policies in energy in all its ramifications.