Sudan seeks to revive Nile power project at Nimule

Sudan has revived a 30-year old plan to build a 750MW hydroelectricity plant at Nimule on the River Nile.

The project was studied and approved between 1972 and 1974, but the government failed to get funding for it because potential financiers feared it would be a white elephant.

State Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mayom Kuoc Malek said the funders were of the opinion "that the power was too much, and that it would be wasted since we did not need so much at that time."

Primarily, the planned generation of electricity at Nimule on its border with Uganda will be for development needs, especially in Southern Sudan, where calm is returning after over 20 years of civil war.

The project is being revived at a time when many African countries, among them Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Congo, Ethiopia and South Africa, are also planning to generate more power. Experts say that if all these electricity generation projects on the continent are realised, power supply will by far exceed anticipated demand in 15 years' time, while environmentalists fear that there will be drastic changes in ecology, whose magnitude could easily be underestimated.

However, due to the magnitude of the project, government officials anticipate a sizeable electricity surplus, which will be sold to Uganda and Kenya, both currently plugging supply shortfalls with expensive thermal power. The project will also include interconnection powerlines to Uganda and Kenya for exporting the surplus.

The government has now commissioned a new study to update project data collected in the 1970s, including economic feasibility, impact on the environment and water flow at the Nimule site.

Said Mr Malek: "There has been a lot of climatic change, so we needed a new study to update the data. We also believe that we shall readily get funds for the project this time, because we not only need the power now for ourselves, but it will also benefit other countries."

Mr Malek said his government has already approached the Nile Basin Initiative, an inter-government organisation has a basket of funds from the World Bank and other sources for developmental projects such as electricity generation.

The Nile Basin Initiative is already facilitating studies for a hydroelectricity plant at Rusumo Falls to produce power for Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi. Some $190 million will be spent on constructing the plant on the Kagera River. It is expected to deliver about 70MW of electricity by 2011.

The regional organisation is also facilitating construction of a 320km power-interconnection line of 230MW carriage-capacity between Gondar substation in Ethiopia and El Gedaref substation in Sudan, at a cost of $70 million.

Mr Malek did not disclose how much the plant will cost, but going by comparable projects such as the 200MW plant being constructed at Bujagali on the Nile in eastern Uganda, it will cost approximately $700 million.

The power generation sector has been expanding across Africa in response to an ongoing construction boom.

However, only five to 10 per cent of Africa's population has access to electricity, making further generation imperative.

Besides Bujagali in Uganda, there are plans to construct a 205MW power plant at Karuma Falls, also on the Nile. Additionally, over 20 sites across the country have been identified as having a potential to support small hydro plants generating an average of 70MW.

Uganda has also offered incentives to the private sector to produce electricity.

Congo has lined up the much hyped Inga hydro electricity project on the Congo River, to generate 40,000MW, at an estimated cost of $50 billion. This project alone could generate enough electricity for the whole of Africa, and have a surplus to export to Southern Europe, given that consumption in Africa is low on the global scale.

Mr Malek is convinced that this time round, his government will secure all funds needed for the project, due to its trans-boundary benefit.

"We are convinced that NBI member states will not oppose this project because, first, power is a prerequisite for development, and second, it will benefit other countries such as Uganda and Kenya," he said.