Name of the Project
Nachtigal Amont hydropower project.

Location
Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Client
Nachtigal Hydro Power Company (NHPC), comprising EDF International (40%), Cameroon (30%) and the International Finance Corporation (30%). NHPC will finalise the development activities and raise finance using development finance institutions and local commercial banks. 

Project Description
The project is part of a broad plan to harness the potential of hydroelectric power in the Sanaga river basin. The project will add more than 30% to Cameroon’s hydropower capacity.

The 420 MW hydroelectric facility includes:
• two roller-compacted concrete dams, each 2 000 m long and 15 m high, on the Sanaga river to create a 27.8-million-cubic-metre reservoir with a surface area of 4.21 km² at normal operating level;
• a headrace concrete-lined canal, about 3.3 km long and 14 m deep, to transfer water to the hydroelectric power plant – the canal will have a maximum design flow rate of 980 m³/s, corresponding to the design flow of the hydroelectric power plant equipment;
• a hydroelectric power plant, including seven 60 MW Francis turbines able to operate as a run-of-river plant or an intermediate peaking plant;
• a secondary 4.5 MW power plant to generate electricity from the environmental flow rate (riparian release) to be discharged downstream of the dam;
• a double-busbar, 225 kV generation substation and a double-circuit 50.3 km transmission line (225 kV), equipped with two bundle conductors, to transmit the power produced from the power plant generation substation to the Nyom 2 connection substation;
• spoil disposal areas for the temporary storage of about 1.8-million cubic metres of excavated material;
• a quarry for the extraction of about 170 000 m³ of laterite;
• a concrete plant to produce about 130 000 m³ of concrete;
• 6.5 km of permanent roads to access the hydroelectric power plant and dam; and
• a 1 ha temporary landfill for the sorting, pretreatment and disposal of nonhazardous solid waste.

Jobs to Be Created
About 1 500 jobs are expected to be created during construction.

Value
The project is valued at an estimated $1.05-billion.

Duration
Construction is expected to start in early 2018 and commissioning of the last turbine is expected in 2022.

Latest Developments
None stated.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
NHPC, tel +237 690 87 18 72 or email info@nachtigal-hpp.com.