YAOUNDE, Cameroon 11/17/11 (PennWell) -- The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a US$71.1 million loan to Cameroon to help finance the 56-MW Lom Pangar hydroelectric project.
Cameroon utility Electricity Development Corp. awarded a US$16.2 million contract in January to France's Coyne et Bellier to manage construction of the US$419.2 million project in the Sanaga River Basin.
The project includes the 46-meter-tall Lom Pangar Dam, a reservoir of 540 square kilometers and storage of 6 billion cubic meters, transformer stations, and transmission and distribution lines. In addition to generating its own electricity, Lom Pangar is expected to control flows to increase generation of downstream projects, 396-MW Song Loulou and 263-MW Edea, and the proposed 330-MW Nachtigal project. (HydroWorld 7/22/10)
The AfDB noted the strategic importance of the project to Cameroon and the sub-region because, the bank said, Lom Pangar will maximize the hydropower potential of the Sanaga River by more than 5,000 MW.
AfDB said the project is jointly financed by AfDB, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Development Bank of Central African States, and the French Development Agency.
