| 16-01-2017 10:01
Government, ENEO and the renewable energy company signed a tripartite agreement in Yaounde on January 13, 2017.
Joule Africa, an international operating company with headquarters in London, specializing in infrastructure projects in the field of renewable energy, has agreed with the government of Cameroon through the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy, MINEE and Energy of Cameroon, ENEO, to develop the Kpep Hydropower project on the Katsina Ala River basin in the North West Region.
The Minister of Water Resources and Energy, Basile Atangana Kouna, the Chief Executive Officer of ENEO, Joel Nana Kontchou and the President of Joule Africa, Mark A. Green, signed a letter of intent in Yaounde on January 13, 2017, with the latter, expected to carry out full feasibility studies highlighting the project term sheet. However, no timeframe was announced for the start of the studies, though Minister Atangana Kouna said efforts were on to fast track the project, hence, the choice of partners.
Mark A. Green said the Kpep Hydropower Dam project will secure energy production to the North West and West Regions, with over 3,000 jobs for grab. The project, to be constructed in four years, will have a concrete face dam, a spillway structure, an intake of 250 upstream, headrace channel, penstock, powerhouse, tailrace, substation transformer, access roads and power evacuation.
A pre-feasibility study carried out in 2012 by Joule Africa through Lahmeyer International identified the potential of the Katsina Ala River for the development of hydropower. The studies also revealed the construction of a 94-metre high dam and an installed capacity project of up to 485 megawatts. The Kpep Project is expected to increase the country’s power generation capacity by 40 per cent.
Located on the Kastsina-Ala River in Menchum Division, North West and near the Nigerian border, it is also hoped that the plant will boost economic development in the region. FCFA 900 billion is the estimate cost of the project though the true worth will be known when Joule Africa completes feasibility studies.