The Federal Government has engaged China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC), also known as Energy China, to explore practical ways of delivering the long-delayed Mambilla Hydropower Project in Taraba State.
Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed this during a media briefing in Abuja to mark his first 100 days in office.
According to the minister, the government has directed Energy China to examine different options for executing the project, including the possibility of implementing it in phases.
The Mambilla project was originally conceived as a major hydropower development with a planned capacity of about 3,050 megawatts. It has remained stalled for years amid contractual and legal disputes.
The renewed effort follows Nigeria’s recent victory in an international arbitration case involving Sunrise Power and Transmission Company over the project. On September 17, an International Chamber of Commerce tribunal in Paris ruled in Nigeria’s favour, rejecting claims that had created a major legal obstacle to the project.
Tegbe said large hydropower projects such as Mambilla, alongside smaller hydro schemes serving agricultural corridors, form part of the government’s medium- and long-term strategy for increasing electricity generation.
The minister also disclosed that Nigeria’s recent engagement with Chinese companies and financiers had produced commitments to advance several priority power projects.
He said China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) had reaffirmed its role in the 1.9-gigawatt Presidential Power Initiative, with the first transmission lines expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2027.
The China National Electric Engineering Company (CNEEC), he added, had advanced financing arrangements for the $116 million Zungeru power evacuation project.
Tegbe further said Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock (TBEA) had committed to a proposed $500 million industrial park for power-equipment manufacturing in Nigeria, while HengFei Cables had proposed a cable assembly plant and training centre in the country.
The minister said the government would also focus on strengthening the national grid along the Lagos, Enugu-Port Harcourt and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano corridors, with technical audits already underway to identify weaknesses and guide future investments.
The Federal Government’s latest engagement with Energy China is therefore expected to help determine how the Mambilla project can be taken forward, including whether a phased construction model would be more practical.
