(Business in Cameroon) - Chinese firm CWE and the Electricity Development Corporation (EDC) launched on the 24th September 2015 the partial set-up of the Lom Pangar dam in construction in Cameroon’s East (work progress at 90%).
For now, all operations included in the various stages of project have been successfully carried out, said Théodore Nsangou, EDC’s Managing director. However, he highlighted that these various stages of the partial set-up are to be evaluated and approved by an expert team from the World Bank. This team from Washington arrived on the project’s site on September 24, 2015 tasked to analyze the structure’s response to the partial filling which was launched on September 24, explained a technician on the site.
According to the EDC, by mid-January next year, period which generally mark the beginning of drought (that last three months), about two to three billion cubic meters of water will be retained at the Lom Pangar dam. A volume which should regulate flow from the Sanaga River and lead to an increase in power output at the Edéa and Songloulou plants, from 70 to 80 MW, with no extra input.
EDC’s Director General stated that the dam would be fully filled in July 2016. The structure could then reach its maximum retention capacity of 6 billion cubic meters of water whilst raising output to 120 MW. The Lom Pangar dam will boost capacities of the other energy structures which are to be built on the Sanaga River.
In addition to the Lom Pangar dam, works for the construction of a 30 MW producing factory will begin in December and carried out over a year. This factory will provide power to 150 villages in the East.
BRM