(Business in Cameroon) - Currently, the hydropower plant at the foot of the Lom-Pangar dam is 45% completed, against 23% in November 2020. This was revealed on March 16, 2021, by Thédore Nsangou, director-general of the project manager, Electricity Development Corporation (EDC).  

"The first penstock and the retaining walls have already been concreted. In the coming two weeks, we will start with the second, third, and fourth penstocks. We can estimate that the construction of the plant is 45% completed. But, when we add things like the transmission line [to Bertoua], the rate is a little bit below our estimate because several equipment manufactured abroad and imported into the country are still being cleared through customs," the director-general said.  

Based on the pace of the works, he believes that the various deadlines will be met. Namely, the November-December 2021 deadline to deliver the Lom Pangar-Bertoua high-voltage line and the H1-2022 deadline for the operationalization of the plant. The only factor that could disrupt these deadlines is the current health crisis since some equipment are manufactured in China. Therefore, the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic could delay the timely delivery of those equipment, we learn.

The construction works of the said hydropower plant were officially launched on September 20, 2018, by the Minister of Water and Energy (Minee), Gaston Eloundou Essomba.  The 30MW infrastructure will help provide electricity to about 150 neighborhoods in the eastern region of the country.

Joseph Roland Djotié