The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, in collaboration with a Hungarian company, has concluded arrangements to generate power from farm produce and human waste.

Vice Chancellor of the university Professor Ibrahim Garba said during the ground breaking ceremony of the project at the institution’s main campus in Samaru weekend, that the independent power generation became imperative because ABU could not sustain the N86 million monthly electricity bills.

“ABU seeks to address these issues by building a bio-ethanol and biogas plant. The university has found a partner and reached agreement with Agrar-Biothanol Company of Hungary to undertake this project. On completion, the plant will produce about 2.66 million litres of ethanol per annum, 1,333 tonnes of liquid organic fertilizer per annum and 1.2mw electricity,” Professor Garba said.

Hungary’s ambassador in Nigeria, Professor Ternak Gabor, said Nigeria’s growing population made diversification to renewal energy production necessary.