Emergence 2035: Construction work to start on the Nachtigal Hydro-Electric Facility

The Republic of Cameroon and the Electricity of France, EDF under the Nachtigal Consortium have both signed a purchase agreement with the Energy of Cameroon, Eneo S.A.  The agreements signed on the 3rd November 2015 grants exclusive rights to Eneo S.A to buy energy from the Nachtigal Plant on the River Sanaga. The Minister of Water Resources and Energy, Basile Atangana Kouna signed for the government of Cameroon, Vice President, Simone Rossi put pen to paper for Electricity of France, EDF, and Joel Nana Kontchou for Eneo S.A.

By the terms of the agreement, the future power plant will be operated by the newly created Electricity Transportation Company SONATREL and the management of the reservoir dams and water on the Sanaga catchment area will be done by another entity not Eneo, in line with the December 14, 2011 law on the electricity sector in the country.

According to Minister Atangana Kouna all is set for construction to begin by mid-2016 as 10 companies were preselected on the 11th of October 2015. Minister Atangana Kouna, Simone Rossi and Joel Nana Kontchou said the 420 megawatts plant will solve 20 per cent of the energy needs of the country. The project estimated to cost some 1 billion Euro, about FCFA 655.9 billion is located 60 km from the north of Yaounde.

The French expert also made public his company’s commitment to complete negotiations for the power sales agreement and subsequently ensure the execution of the project. The Electricity of France pledged to provide 40 per cent of funding while the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank and the Republic of Cameroon are contributing 34 per cent and 26 per cent respectively.