Hydropower potential assessment in Nigeria

Hydropower potential assessment plays a critical role in identifying suitable river reaches and sites for sustainable electricity generation, particularly in countries with growing energy demand and underutilized water resources such as Nigeria. These assessments aim to quantify available hydropower potential, determine appropriate plant scales, and evaluate site suitability using hydrological, topographic, and economic information. Different methodological approaches are employed depending on data availability, spatial scale, and the intended level of project development, ranging from regional screening studies to site-specific feasibility analyses. In this comparison, several hydropower potential assessment studies conducted in Nigeria are analyzed based on a consistent set of properties. These include the data sources used (e.g., field measurements, digital elevation models, satellite rainfall products), the models and methods applied (such as GIS-based analysis, Flow Duration Curve methods, hydropower potential equations, and techno-economic tools), and the evaluation metrics employed to assess model performance or project feasibility. The comparison also considers the hydropower scheme type, plant scale, use of flow duration curves, and reported key findings related to site suitability and estimated power yield. This structured analysis enables a systematic comparison of hydropower potential across different Nigerian river basins and methodological frameworks.