(Business in Cameroon) - In a note published on June 26, the African Development Bank (AfDB) praised the impacts of the planned extension of the Kribi gas-fired power plant (from 216 MW to 330 MW) developed by the Kribi Power Development Company SA (KPDC), a company controlled by Globeleq.

 "KPDC plans to expand the plant's capacity to significantly increase its production, thereby helping to reduce the energy deficit observed in the southern interconnected grid. In addition to improving the quality of electricity supply to the beneficiary populations, the KPDC project has created job opportunities for young people in a country with high unemployment," the Pan-African banking institution writes.

It adds that the forthcoming commissioning of the Kribi industrial-port complex (ed.note: only the port has been operational since October 2018) will reinforce the impact of the KPDC energy project on job creation in the region. Indeed, the gas power station will supply energy to the industrial port complex. It, therefore, constitutes a magnet attracting job-creating enterprises.

Globeleq, a subsidiary of the British-Norwegian company Globeleq, built and commissioned a gas-fired power plant in Kribi in 2013. The project, which is receiving multilateral funding, aims to improve energy supply in the southern region of Cameroon. The total cost of the project is CFAF 170 billion. The cost is partly funded by international backers to the tune of CFAF 79.6 billion while the AfDB contributes CFAF 28.5 billion.

The gas is produced offshore 18 kilometres from the coast. Most of the maintenance is carried out in-house and the commercial component is an important part of the company's activities.

S.A.