BEVERLY HILLS, September 15, (THEWILL) – The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC and the Management of Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited have debunked the purported collapse of the nations’ premier hydropower facility, the Kainji Dam in Niger state.
The ICRC said it can confirm that the integrity of Kainji Dam is intact and the facility is operating flawlessly and injecting lowest-cost power to the national grid
In a statement signed by its Director General, Chdid Izuwah said the Kainji Hydropower facility is working well and has been concessioned to Mainstream Energy solutions. It added that Mainstream’s responsibility includes safe custody of the entire dam structure and appurtenances.
The Commission went further that Kainji has one of the most sophisticated real-time inflow prediction and reservoir basin management systems which is a computer-based system with feeder monitors on the upstream and downstream stretches and is designed to ensure world-class hydraulics flow management for the dam, upstream and downstream safety management.
The commission stated further that an embankment collapse with the Kainji Dam impounding 16 billion litres of water means the dam structure is breached leading to loss of containment of the impounded water resulting in what is called a dam break wave.
It said most empirical hydraulic models will show that everything probably some decent distance on both banks of the Niger from Kainji dam location to the sea will be washed away and will probably be the biggest disaster to hit Africa since the turn of the century – destructive power of water which is very similar and destructive as a Tsunami wave but is not of seismic origin as a Tsunami.
The commission wondered why any person would wish this type of disaster on his or her country or continent.
What is currently happening at Kainji according to the commission is a well planned and professionally managed annual to periodic reservoir management practice of safe and controlled spilling of computed volumes of water through the Dam spillway for safety and other well designed and thought out operational reasons. It informed the public that Kainji Dam is safe and advice them to ignore the fake news.
The commission also directed Nigerians to check the status of PPP and concession projects on the ICRC disclosure portal via www.icrc.gov.ng or directly with the Commission.
In a related development, the Management of Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited, operators of the Kainji and Jebba Hydro Power Plants has described the reported news that Kaiji Dam has burst its banks as malicious fake news.
In a statement issued by its Head, Corporate Communications, Olugbenga Adebola said Kainji plant is carrying out water spillage exercise to regulate the water flow along the river Niger.
“The dam reservoir is currently not at its fullest capacity and will not be in the coming months, therefore bursting its banks does not arise. This is an exercise carried out annually to ensure that the reservoir is well secured and that the expected flow of water along the River Niger and its tributaries are controlled. Our team of dedicated and experienced engineers is working round the clock to ensure power supply to the nation as well as the safety and integrity of our dam. We would like to assure the public that there is no cause for alarm”, the statement read
About the Author
