(Business in Cameroon) - Chinese company Sinohydro intends to deliver the energy evacuation components of Memve'élé dam (211 MW) - built in South Cameroon- in mid-2020, sources close to the case indicate.

“The dam was completed since June 2017. However, some of the energy evacuation component structures are still being built on the Ebolowa-Yaoundé line for its operation. These works should be completed by August 2020,” a source close to the case informs.

For the 2020 fiscal year, the Cameroonian government has budgeted an amount of XAF9.5 billion for the completion of the works. Last November, during his appearance before the Finance and Budget Committee of the National Assembly, the Minister of Water and Energy Gaston Eloundou Essomba estimated the rate of completion of the work on the transmission line connected to the Memve'ele dam (Nyabizan-Yaounde) at 60%. At the same time, he announced the final commissioning of the Memve'ele hydroelectric dam by December 31, 2020.

“Powered up on April 14, 2019, the power station already produces 65 MW per day, evacuated by a temporary 90 kV line. An evaluation of the work on the energy evacuation components and tests to increase the capacity of the hydroelectric power station are currently being performed by Sonatrel in order to increase the power to 75 MW,” he said.

Started eight years ago, the Memve'ele hydroelectric dam, costing nearly XAF450 billion, should have been delivered by 2018. However, due to financial challenges, the commissioning of the structure has been postponed at least twice.

The Memve'ele hydroelectric dam is cited by the World Bank as one of Cameroon's projects whose costs are two to six times higher than similar projects in countries with the same level of development.

SA