Bauchi — Three villages, Yuli, Gilliri and Kimni in Bauchi and Ganjawa local government areas of Bauchi state are to benefit from small hydropower electrification projects, Engineer Abubakar S. Usman has said.

Usman, Chairman, local organising committee for the workshop on "Capacity Building in Small Hydropower For The Provision of Novel Energy," explained that the three villages were selected owing to the potentials of energy supply presented by the Waya Dam project, which is located 20 kilometres from Bauchi metropolis.

According to him, the projects are co-sponsored by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation UNIDO), in collaboration with the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN).

Several programmes on socio-economic and industrial development of rural areas, he said, are constrained by energy deficiency and that the electricity supply is overstretched.

Consequently, he said that the government has decided to formulate a guiding principle adaptable to local government conditions to harness viable sources of energy into the national grid.

It was this principle, he said, that resulted in the choice of the three villages for a pivot scheme, adding that ECN and UNIDO have signed a memorandum with the International Centre for Small Hydropower (IC-SHP), Hangzhou - China, for further cooperation in exploiting small/mini hydropower through technical assistance, training and establishment of demonstration projects.

"The Waya Dam project, located 20km from Bauchi metropolis, off Bauchi - Maiduguri highway, was selected in 2003 as a pilot demonstration project for the establishment of Small Hydro Power (SHP) for rural communities. In this regards, three communities, namely Yuli, Gilliri and Kimni in Bauchi and Ganjuwa LGA's was selected for the first phase of the SHP rural community based scheme. Feasibility studies have been completed," he said.