UNICAL Solar Plant: VC Meets Contractors, Insists on Delivery Based on Specification

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Florence Banku Obi, has on Monday 13th January, 2025 held a meeting with the contractors in charge of the institution’s World bank/FG hybrid solar plant project in her office for a briefing on the level of work thus far. 

Unical VC Interacting with Project Contractor's 


The move was necessary as the University prepares to take full delivery of the almost completed multimillion dollars power project to illuminate the entire campus, enhance research and ensure safety of lives and property within the University.


As the project is far reached and about to be handed over, the university authority has been taking aback that in the day, the whole campus will have light while in the night, some parts of the institution termed as ‘critical areas’ will have light and some parts termed as ‘non-critical areas’ will not. Worried by this sudden development, the VC swung into action, calling for a meeting with the contractors. 


Speaking during the enlarged Management meeting with the contractors, the VC insisted that the project must be in accordance to specification to providing sustainable 24/7 power supplies to the institution. 


“We want to know, and the world deserves to know as well what they are giving to UNICAL. We were told that the plant will supply us 24/7 electricity. We don’t want to hear now that the project is at the verge of handing over that critical areas will have light in the night and the non critical areas will not. We need to know now what we are in for”, she stated. 


On their part, the Project Manager of Dong Fang Electricity Company, Engr. Kang and the electricity consultant, Engr. Shola, noted that according to the structure of the project, they’re limited from having direct communication with the institution, stating that the project owners engineers, REA ought to have been briefing the VC and the Management Team constantly and atleast having a technical meeting every month with the Management, which has not been so. 

Front View of the World bank/FG Hybrid Solar Plant in Unical 


They however informed the Management that they are currently test-running the project life-load in order to transfer power from the old panels to the new panels, hence there’s need to work closely with the institution.

Management were also informed that the project has a day time operation and night time operation according to world bank specification with the former having excess power of 80 megawatts which could be sold and the later with only 300 kilowatts as contained in the World Bank’s website. 

“In the day, you’ll consume less than 2-megawatts, but we have capacity for 8-megawatts. The challenge is that the night time operation needs storage which is the most expensive part of this plant and that’s the reason why you have the generators there. Typically, the batteries will work for a certain period and then the generator kicks on, but contractually, we are responsible for the diesel”, they added.


Credit:Onigah Joseph 

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