(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroon plans to launch electricity interconnection with Nigeria, from the Nachtigal hydroelectric plant (420 MW), located 65 km Northeast of Yaoundé, through Bafoussam, its western regional capital.

In that regard, on April 21, Gaston Eloundou Essomba, the Minister of Water and Energy (Minee), published a tender notice for the pre-qualification of technical engineering firms that will act as project managers for the construction of the 400 kV transmission line from Nachtigal to Bafoussam, to reach neighbouring Nigeria. The said infrastructure is scheduled to be commissioned between October 2022 and October 2023 at about the same time the first turbine and the Nachtigal hydroelectric plant will be commissioned.

This project is composed as follows: a 400 kV line between Nachtigal-Bafoussam, a 400/225/30/15 kV transformer substation, the extension of the Nachtigal Bafoussam substations, the construction of the 90 kV lines between Nachtigal-Bafia, Bafoussam-Baganté, Bafoussam-Foumbam and Bachtigal-Nkometou and the construction of the 90, 30, 15 kV substations in Bafia, Bagangté and Foumbam.

In the meantime, the Minee indicates, the government of Cameroon has signed a memorandum with the Indian company Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd, to carry out technical studies and the construction of the whole infrastructure. This company has already submitted the preliminary design studies, launched the environmental and social studies, and started with the detailed design studies.

Also, the Minee explains, the declarations of public utility have already been obtained for the sites that will host the project and the operating specifications of the assessment and evaluation commissions are available.

The purpose of the company that will be selected is, therefore, to examine, over 36 months, the work carried out by Kalpataru. Firms with an international reputation in the field are invited to submit their applications by May 18, 2020.  

The XAF786 billion Nachtigal power plant will produce more than 2,900 GWh/year. The funds for its construction were raised in the form of a public-private partnership with the participation, alongside the State of Cameroon, of internationally renowned technical and financial partners like Electricité de France (EDF), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Africa50 and STOA Infra & Energy.

Sylvain Andzongo