One of the most significant energy projects in Africa, with a total cost of around 786 billion CFA francs (USD 1,3 billion), took a decisive step, with the signing, on November 8, 2018, in Paris, of financing agreements relating to the construction of the upstream Nachtigal hydroelectric plant, the 225,000 V Nachtigal Nyom 2 line, and the operating center.
The construction work started at the end of December 2018 for 57 months. The project is located on the Sanaga River, at the level of the Nachtigal falls upstream, 65 km to the North-East of Yaoundé, Center region.
According to World Bank studies, two-third of Cameroonian companies mention electricity as a constraint and assess the losses linked to the instability of the electrical service at around 5% of their production. The entry into service of the upstream Nachtigal hydroelectric plant, after the Memve’ele (211 MW), Mekin (15 MW) and Lom-Pangar dams (30 MW), will contribute to the growth of installed power to around 1862 MW in 2023, in a context marked by the increase in demand for electricity (about 7.5% per year).
The capacity of the future structure will be 420 MW of renewable energy, which will represent 30% of the installed capacity of electric power in Cameroon (1,442 MW in 2018). The enormous potential of the Sanaga requires to build upstream a large dam-reservoir like such as Lom-Pangar, with its capacity of water retention estimated at six billion cubic meters.
The upstream Nachtigal hydroelectric development will benefit from the regularization of river flows ensured by the large upstream lakes of Mbakaou and Lom-Pangar precisely. The upstream Nachtigal hydroelectric dam will open up new industrialization opportunities in Cameroon. The upstream Nachtigal dam will save Cameroun each year an additional 100 million dollars (more than 58 billion CFA francs) in production costs, according to the World Bank.
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