(Business in Cameroon) - In recent days, power outages have become increasingly common in several cities in Cameroon, notably in Yaoundé and Douala. The country’s power utility Eneo issued a statement yesterday to explain the reasons.

The company revealed it has implemented rotational electricity rationing to address a production deficit in the Southern Interconnected Network (Ris), which includes the regions of Center, East, West, Littoral, South, Northwest, and Southwest. "The quantity of energy available for distribution is significantly limited due to a combination of inherent operational constraints in the system and production concerns. Primarily, the ongoing low water levels in the Ntem River is leading to a significant decrease in Memve'ele production," the statement read.

"Last year, we experienced power cuts in the first quarter due to the impact of low water levels at Memve’ele. Given that the Ris production park has not expanded since then and the demand has even increased (100,000 new connections in 2023), we are facing the same situation," indicates an internal source within the power utility. For several weeks, the Lom Pangar reservoir dam power plant in the East region of Cameroon has been capable of producing its full 30 MW capacity. However, due to the absence of a transmission line between Bertoua and Abong Mbang, the production from this hydroelectric plant cannot be shared with the rest of the Southern Interconnected Network, according to a source at the Ministry of Water and Energy.

Due to this situation, Eneo is implementing rotational rationing to preserve the system's balance. "The average rotation duration could extend or reduce based on the real-time increase or decrease in production deficits. Special arrangements are made to minimize the impact of this situation on households, including the contribution of thermal power plants and certain industries during peak hours," notes the power utility.

At the end of last year, the country faced a similar issue due to the shutdown of the gas-fired Kribi power plant (KPDC, 216 MW) and the heavy fuel oil Dibamba power plant (DPDC, 88 MW), controlled by the British company Globeleq. The independent power producer claimed projected unpaid bills of CFA115 billion by the end of December 2023 from Eneo. Globeleq only restarted its power plants due to a promise, fulfilled, of a CFA30 billion payment.