(Business in Cameroon) - On Sunday 20 August 2017, technicians from Eneo, a company owned by the British investment fund Actis, moreover holder of the concession for the public electricity service in Cameroon, started the work to connect the Maroua thermal plant to the North interconnected grid (RIN - réseau interconnecté Nord), thereby signalling the completion of the installation of the plant, which had taken place since the end of July, according to a manager at Eneo.
This energy structure, constructed by the British company Aggreko, has a production capacity of 10 MW, and will enable to supplement the production unit of the Lagdo dam (72 MW) in periods of sharp increase in the electricity demand in the three northern regions of Cameroon.
“Before the works to connect to the power grid take place, the technicians will carry out tests throughout the week, to ensure that everything is in proper order of operation, and that households can indeed be supplied. It is after these verifications that the plant will effectively be commissioned”, explains a source within Eneo.
Once it is commissioned, the Maroua thermal plant will help to reduce the important production deficit registered on the Lagdo dam, sole energy infrastructure supplying the northern half of Cameroon to date. Indeed, for years now, due to silting in the reservoir, the Lagdo production unit often sees its capacities reduced by over 50% during periods of lower rainfall.
Coupled with the growing increase in the electricity demand from households and companies in the North, this situation generally leads to frequent power cuts. This was particularly the case between April and May 2017, period during which almost all the towns in the North were deprived of electricity two to three times per week, between 6 am and 10 pm.
Brice R. Mbodiam