The Katsina wind farm project was initiated by late President Yaradua in the year 2005 when he was the Governor of the state to complement power generation and boost renewable energy to save the environment.
The ten-watt wind farm project located at Lambar Rimi was made up of 37 installed turbines capable of generating 273 kilowatts.
After eight attempts to commission the project since its inception to date, it appears the project has been abandoned.
This is the proposed substation for the wind farm project that could have become a model for other state government in its search for alternative power sources
It would have become another celebrated legacy of late President Umar Musa Yaradua, who had wished to bring a lot of reforms under his 7-point agenda.”
This project was first awarded by the Katsina state government in the year 2005 and was later taken over by the federal government in 2007.
The intention was to introduce a new model and a cheaper and cleaner alternative source of energy that could be replicated across the board to rid the country over its frustration with hydro and gas electricity generation sources.
The glimpse of the standing turbines with two blades is truly a grim reminder of circumstances that stalled the commissioning of the project after over 4 billion Naira had gone down the drain.
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The Drama started with the kidnapping of the French engineer from Collomp France who was later rescued in Zaria.
After that various teams visited the site including ministers of power who at a time confirmed the damage caused by rodents and human vandals to the equipment.
In the year 2017, the federal government allocated close to one billion naira again for the completion of the project, but only the transmission line was commissioned leaving alone the main project.
At present, some of the turbines remain intact and the substation is yet to be constructed.
The people of the state are calling on the federal government to look into the matter especially now that the power sector is facing a lot of setbacks.
The project was supposed to have been completed in 12 months but 18 years after no one is ready to take responsibility for completing the project.
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