AfDB sinks N47bn into 3 Cameroonian power plants

Three projects financed by the African Development Bank for $121.4 million (About N43.7 billion) in 2010/2011 are at last starting to provide long-suffering Cameroonians with much more reliable electricity.

In a statement, the bank said the Lom Panga storage reservoir project was complete, but that the dam’s generating plant was still under construction.

The two other power plants, Kribi and Dibamba, have started working to strengthen Cameroon’s generating capacity.

With an estimated 23,000 megawatts (MW) hydroelectric production capacity, Cameroon has the second largest hydroelectric potential in Africa and the 18th largest worldwide, it noted.

In November, 2011, AfDB awarded a $62.9m fund for the construction of LomPangar, the hydroelectric generation’s “lungs” in the country’s East Region.

The project included the Song Loulou plant (335MW) and the Edea plant (224MW). Production has grown from 450MW in 2011 to 729MW now. A 30MW hydro plant is under construction at the base of the dam.

Lom-Pangar will provide electricity to 150 locations in the region and will significantly reduce power cuts in the area.

The 216MW Kribi gas-fired plant began to work in 2013 after receiving $32.8m from the bank in July, 2011, for an expansion project. Its production goal is 330MW.

The Dibamba heavy fuel oil generating plant got the bank’s funding of $25.6m in April, 2010, to provide more power. The 86MW thermal plant is serving the most remote and densely populated areas in the country’s West Region.

Construction of the Nachtigal hydroelectric plant began in 2019 and will be complete in about five years, with an estimated generating capacity of 420MW. The bank gave $154.8m for its completion.