Contribution to nation-building: Energy, a very vital sector

Cameroon’s economy is enjoying a modest but encouraging growth rate (3-5%) but to sustain this growth the demand for electricity must grow at about two to three percentage points above the growth in economy, suggesting a power demand growth rate of 5-8% for the coming years

By Ako N. Mengot

In 2001, this author wrote in The Herald of 9-10 July, an article that was meant to sensitise the public at large and government in particular on the strategic role of energy (electrical power, to be precise) in a developing economy like Cameroon’s.
It is now seven years since that article was written, and today, because of population increase and additional demand for power from industries, both the old and the new ones seeking to invest in Cameroon, it is imperative that we examine our current situation and make proposals that would lead to some brain-storming in high government circles, in order that urgent decisions be made concerning this important issue of energy self-sufficiency.

Cameroon’s economy is actually enjoying a modest but encouraging growth rate (3-5%) but to sustain this growth, the demand for electricity must grow at about two to three percentage points above the growth in economy, suggesting a power demand growth rate of 5-8% for the coming years.
It is needless to remind readers that there can be no sustained economic growth for our country without enough electricity generating capacity to meet the demands of both industrial users and the private sector. New industries can only be attracted to Cameroon on the assurance of enough electrical power. It is through these industries, we believe, that jobs can be created for our young men and women who are graduating in their thousands from universities and technical institutions.

It is therefore praiseworthy to note that recent efforts have been made by President Paul Biya’s government to increase Cameroon’s electricity generating capacity, but we must be careful to ensure that the projects announced are executed in good time, or else we may find ourselves lagging behind in the demand/supply balance in the not-too-distant future.
Cameroon’s actual capacity totals approximately 908 MW for both the southern grid (Edea, Song-Loulou) and the northern grid (Lagdo). This capacity includes hydroelectric generation from the Sanaga river (Edea and Song-Loulou), the Lagdo dam in the north, and thermal generation with diesel or heavy fuel in many centres around the country.

President Paul Biya has himself championed the drive for new generating capacity for Cameroon and the projects concerned are the following:

- Creation of Electricity Development Corporation (EDC) with the Lom Pangar dam being the foremost project to be realised under the auspices of this company. This dam, with a projected water retention capacity of about 7 billion cubic metres, could bring an additional 100 MW of new power to the national electricity grid;

- Hydroelectric power generation projects like the Memvele (53 MW) and Nachtigal (250-300 MW) are currently under study but will not be finalised before 2013;

- A project for thermal generation using natural gas from offshore Kribi is advancing fairly well with the creation of the Kribi power development company (KPDC) by government and its partner AES-SONEL. KPDC will take charge of the gas power plant in Kribi (150-330 MW) as well as a thermal plant in Yassa-Dibamba with a generation capacity of 86 MW using heavy fuel.