Volume 6 hydro power 6 05 – overview of institutional structure reform of the cameroon power sector and assessments

Volume 6 hydro power 6 05 – overview of institutional structure reform of the cameroon power sector and assessments Volume 6 hydro power 6 05 – overview of institutional structure reform of the cameroon power sector and assessments Volume 6 hydro power 6 05 – overview of institutional structure reform of the cameroon power sector and assessments Volume 6 hydro power 6 05 – overview of institutional structure reform of the cameroon power sector and assessments

Sector and Assessments

J Kenfack and O Hamandjoda, University of Yaounde, Yaounde, Republic of Cameroon

© 2012 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved

6.05.2.1 The River System

6.05.2.2 Existing Hydro Plants

6.05.2.2.1 Production and transportation of electricity

6.05.4.3.3 Outcome of the Lom Pangar project

6.05.4.3.4 Project justification and other alternatives

6.05.4.3.5 Optimizing the reservoir

6.05.4.4.1 Project area and location

6.05.4.4.2 Initial cost of the project

6.05.4.4.3 Project layout and structures

6.05.4.4.4 Dam-reservoir on the Ntem

6.05.4.8 Ngassona Falls 210 Project

6.05.4.9 Overview of Institutional Structure Reform

6.05.4.9.1 Previous assessments of the power sector reforms

6.05.4.9.2 Historical overview of the sector

Cameroon offers a wealth of hydropower opportunity and owns the fourth largest hydro potential in Africa Although 722 MW

of this has already been developed, about 19 GW of hydropower still remain untapped To overcome the important energy deficit, the country has initiated several studies and projects Some of the projects require the improvement of the current ongoing reform in the sector which is really changing

Before 1974, electricity was supplied by many different companies in the country Then all those companies were nationalized and merged into a single vertically integrated company that had the responsibility for production, transmission, distribution, and

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retail sales of electricity This monolithic organization had, however, shown its limits (among which are low productivity, planning, etc.) In order to increase the productivity of the company and satisfy the needs in the future, new measures have been taken since

1998 to overcome these limits The national company was privatized, the sector was opened to competition, and new institutions were set up to manage this new competitive environment Different regimes now apply to actors of the sector, depending on the type

of their activity and on the power produced for the electricity producer We distinguish the concession regime, the license regime, the authorization regime, the declaration regime, and the liberty regime

The weaknesses of the current institutional structure of the power sector have already been proved, and nevertheless, we will examine the ongoing projects and conditions for introducing the private sector in transmission, distribution, system operations, and retail sales The country has adopted a new national energy plan to reduce poverty and studies on a mid-term development plan in the sector have been done Cameroon is therefore looking forward to having the means from international financing institutions to implement the plan This issue will also be examined Electricity production in the country and in the subregion does not meet the demand; therefore, there are real opportunities

6.05.2 Hydro Potential

Cameroon has a gross theoretical potential of 294 TWh However, only 115 TWh is considered to be technically feasible The country hence has the fourth largest potential in Africa behind the Democratic Republic of Congo (1397 TWh), Madagascar, and Ethiopia Of the country’s total installed capacity of 1018 MW in 2009, 722 MW was from hydropower plants Compared to the potential and to the needs, the hydro sector is hence underexploited up to the point where the country experiences energy shortage during low water periods and is obligated to install and run several important thermal plants (Figure 1)

6.05.2.1 The River System

The river system of Cameroon is made of main catchments, namely the Atlantic basin, the Congo basin, the Niger basin, and the tributaries of Lake Chad The catchments are made of many rivers from the south to the north The main river Sanaga has a pluriannual flow that can reach 2000 m3 s−1 Other rivers have a pluriannual flow less than 500 m3 s−1 Water flows to the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Chad

Identified cameroon hydro potential

Legend

NIGERIA

ATLANTIC OCEAN

CONGO EQUATORIAL GUINEA

GABON CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

CHADRegion capitals

Hydro sites (GWh year–1) 27–280 281–700 701–1660

1661–3100

3101–5080

Isolated grids Basin Cameroon

BAFOUSSAM BAMENDA

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Main basins

N

CHAD Basin W E

Cameroon Map Rivers S

Figure 2 Main catchments in Cameroon

The river system can then be broken down into four clearly distinct subsystems of different sizes as shown in Figure 2

1 The Atlantic catchment is the largest of the four subsystems, with the Sanaga river draining alone a catchment area of

135 000 km2 and a pluriannual flow that can reach 2000 m3 s−1 at Edea This vast river is formed by the union of the Lom, the Pangar, and Djerem rivers south of Adamaoua Region Downstream, the Mbam and its tributary the Noun bring in waters from western chains on the right bank To the south of the Sanaga, the Nyong with a pluriannual flow of around 420 m3 s−1 also flows toward the Atlantic and has no major tributary The Ntem with a pluriannual flow of around 440 m3 s−1 is the last large river It springs up in Gabon The small rivers such as Dibamba, Lokoundje, Lobe, Mungo, and Wouri drain all western chains

2 For the Sangha catchment, we have three tributaries of the Sangha river, for example, Dja, Boumba, and Kadei, which in turn is a tributary of the Congo river The Dja and Boumba have at their confluence flows of 500 and 280 m3 s−1, respectively

3 For the Benoue catchment area, the Benoue river is the largest of the Niger river’s tributaries with a pluriannual flow of

250 m3s−1 West of this chain, the Donga, the Katsina Ala, and the Cross rivers also run into the Benoue, but in Nigeria

4 The tributaries of Lake Chad consist of the Vina in the north and the Mbere Both rivers form the western branch of the Logone that runs into the Chari that feeds Lake Chad

Altitudes are from 0 m to more than 2600 m Annual rainfall varies from 400 mm to more than 10 000 mm This situation enables Cameroon to have an important hydrographical network

6.05.2.2 Existing Hydro Plants

Three hydro plants are currently under operation

• Edea

Edea hydro plant was developed on the Sanaga river in three stages: Edea I in 1953 with three units of 11.5 MW each, Edea II in

1958 with 6 units of 121.8 MW each, and Edea III in 1975 with 5 units of 107.5 MW each Some old equipment is currently under replacement with more efficient products (Figure 3)

Figure 3 Edea hydro plant at final stage Reproduced from Atlas du Potentiel Hydroélectrique du Cameroun

Figure 4 Song Loulou hydro plant Reproduced from Atlas du Potentiel Hydroélectrique du Cameroun

Since 1988, Cameroon has not developed any other hydro plant

6.05.2.2.1 Production and transportation of electricity

The total thermal and hydro installed capacity in Cameroon is presented in Table 2 It shows the important growth of the thermal plants

The country has low- to high-voltage power lines Three high-voltage levels are used for transportation, 225 and 90 kV for the south interconnected grid and 110 and 90 kV for the northern interconnected grid Energy distribution is done through several

Hydro plants under operation in Cameroon

N

Legend

Rivers Cameroon Map

Existing hydro plant

EQUATORIAL GUINEA GABON

Congo

Table 1 Evolution of hydro plants in Cameroon

Year of Number of Total installed power Cumulative capacity Hydro plant completion units (MW) (MW)

Figure 5 Hydro plant under operation in 2008

medium-voltage levels, namely 30, 17.3 kV for single-wire earth return; 15, 10, and 5.5 kV In 2008, the transmission and distribution lines were as presented in Table 3

The overall production, taking into account the production of all hydro plants and all thermal plants including standalone systems managed by the private utility AES-SONEL, is presented in Table 4

Table 2 Installed capacity in Cameroon in 2009

Installed power (MW) Grid Locality Hydro Thermal Fuel

Song Loulou 384 Water

Standalone systems 30 Thermal plants 14 LFO

LFO, light fuel oil; HFO, heavy fuel oil

Reproduced from ARSEL and AES-SONEL data

Table 3 Transmission and distribution lines

Reproduced from AES-SONEL Annual Report (2008)

Table 4 Overall production of energy

Production Availability ration

6.05.3.1 Storage Dams Under Operation

The production of Edea and Song Loulou hydro plants is sustained by three storage dams: Bamendjin dam (Figure 6), Mape dam, and Mbakaou dam (Figure 7) All the three dams contribute to regulate the flow rate of the Sanaga river to lower the impact of the dry season, that is, the low water level Lagdo power plant has a dedicated dam located immediately upstream Figure 8 shows the location of the four storage dams under operation

Figure 6 Bamendjin dam Reproduced from Atlas du Potentiel Hydroélectrique du Cameroun

Figure 7 Mbakaou dam Reproduced from Atlas du Potentiel Hydroélectrique du Cameroun

6.05.3.2 Hydrology

100% for Mbakaou dam, giving a total capacity of 7.007 35 billion cubic meter out of 7.779 billion cubic meters expected Mape dam is not often full and studies were made to find solutions For the year 2006, 2007, and 2008, the total volume inside the storage dams at the beginning of the regularization were 7605 million cubic meters, 6383 million cubic meters, and 7204 million cubic meters, respectively, as show in Table 6 The table shows that Cameroon still experience important deficit in terms of water storage for the optimal use of the hydro plants under operation To overcome this situation, the country is among other initiatives planning to construct new dams and new hydro plants

6.05.4 Mid-Term Development Plan for Hydro Plants in Cameroon

6.05.4.1 Objectives

Cameroon government has made several studies aiming at providing Cameroonian authorities (represented by the Minister of Water and Energy) as well as Cameroon’s development partners, in particular, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and others with an adequate analysis of existing options and their financial implications for the development of the next generation of hydropower plants in the country The studies suggested the selection and timing of hydro generation investment projects in the electricity sector at a medium and long term (2025–2035) Elements from the development of several thermal plants were taken into account, namely the Limbe, Kribi, and Yassa thermal plants Among the studies are the energy sector development program (PDSE 2030) and strategies on the sector

The political objectives of the government is to enhance the fight against poverty by increasing the gross national product per capita from around US$1000 in 2005 to more than US$5000 in 2030 This ambitious program requires an implementation of a long-term development plan in the energy sector (PDSE 2030)

In order to attain the goals, Cameroon authorities have decided to rely on important least-cost available resources, mainly hydropower and gas

Most of the potential hydro generation facilities have been identified on different basins

Table 5 Fill level of Mape, Mbakaou, and Bamendjin dams on 17 and 18 December

Filled level

Dam designation Nominal capacity

(billions of cubic meters)

Table 6 Evolution of the low water level during the years 2006–2008

Parameter Unit Year 2006 Year 2007 Year 2008

1 Regularization start date Day 10 December 10 December 30 December

2 Regularization end date Day 14 June 24 June 27 June

3 Regularization period Days 186 176 150

4 Maximum volume in reservoirs 106m3 7 605 6 383 7 204

5 End low water level volume 106m3 682 515 1 627

7 Total volume released 106m3 7 919 6 598 6 262

GABON

Figure 8 Dams under operation in 2010

For the Sanaga basin, we have:

More equipment at Song Loulou (100

Nachtigal upstream (230

Song Ndong (200

Pont Rail dam (3.5–4 km3

For the south west basin, we have:

Memvé Elé on the Ntem river (201 MW)

Njock on the Nyong river (120 MW)

For the north basin, we have:

Bini Warak on the Vina du Nord river (75 MW)

For the east basin, we have:

Colomines on the Kadei river (12 MW)

For Nachtigal, Njock, Memve’Elé, Song Ndong, Song Loulou extension, and Noun (1&2), cost estimates already exist and are taken into account for future generation options though the studies are not limited to these projects Projects have been compared to other options in terms of size and development cost in order to find other realistic alternatives

The studies focused on analyzing hydro generation options that could be developed in Cameroon by the year 2025 Projects that are clearly inferior were eliminated by using a screening analysis Those that are not feasible for any other reasons were also eliminated Studies were made to satisfy the generation supply options required to meet the demand in the southern interconnected network

up to and including the year 2025 Export of electricity to Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Nigeria, and Chad are still to be seriously discussed, even though Cameroon, Chad, and Nigeria are already under discussion and have gone a bit further

6.05.4.2 Context of the Development Plan

It is currently a crucial time in the medium-term development of the electricity sector in Cameroon, as decisions with significant and long-lasting consequences will need to be taken within a relatively short period Cameroon wants to ensure these decisions are made on the basis of solid and realistic technical, economic, and financial analyses

Concerning the future demand of electricity, a key issue to be taken into account in the country is the supply options to the aluminum smelter company (ALUCAM) ALUCAM currently accounts for approximately 40% of the south interconnected grid demand ALUCAM’s co-shareholder, Rio Tinto, has indicated that the cost and security of electricity supply to ALUCAM is a key factor in their decisions on the future of ALUCAM’s activities ALUCAM has carried out in-depth studies on an increase of the capacity of ALUCAM’s smelter capacity, and is currently proposing to increase the current annual production capacity of around

90 000–120 000 tons to an annual production capacity of 250 000 tons or 1 000 000 tons depending on the availability and cost of energy Based on this hypothesis, ALUCAM would have an annual electricity demand of at least 450 MW The other possible options being considered for ALUCAM are either a complete halt in activities or maintaining the current capacity

ALUCAM’s co-shareholder has indicated that failure to a long-term electricity supply contract might lead to the closure of the smelter It has indicated conditions to fulfill in order to be sufficiently productive to continue with ALUCAM’s activities with the existing smelter throughout the year

6.05.4.3 Future Outlook

6.05.4.3.1 Lom Pangar project

This project is a follow up of many other projects on the Sanaga river catchment, after Edea hydro plant in the year 1950, Song Loulou hydro plant between 1981 and 1988, Mbakaou storage dam in 1969, Bamendjin storage dam in 1974, and Mapé in 1988

A 50 MW hydro plant will be installed at the toe of the dam to cover the needs of the eastern region grid and replace the actual light fuel oil (LFO) thermal plant

The first study on Lom Pangar project started in 1990, funded by the public utility, SONEL, before privatization, followed by a feasibility report by Coyne and Bellier in 1995 and updated in 1999 The first environmental study was done by INGEROP in 1998 The updated studies done in 1999 served as a guide to other studies aiming at:

Analyzed other alternatives

Detailed description of the project and the description of the initial state of the project zone

Identify the stakes of the project zone and assess the impacts of the project

Define measures to manage impacts

6.05.4.3.2 Dam characteristics

Lom Pangar site is on the river Lom at about 4 km downstream of the junction with the river Pangar, about 120 km north of Bertoua town in the east region (Figure 9) The site is accessed via the left bank, trough Deng-Deng locality and after 30 km of unpaved road The location of the site is shown in Figure 9

Latitude north 5° 24′

Longitude east 13° 30′

At the selected location of the dam, the valley is narrow, 120 m wide

The dam is 45.55 m high and is mixed type, comprising concrete on one section and earth on another section

The work is scheduled for 44 months, starting with building of the road on the left bank The filling of the dam is scheduled for the middle of the final year The reservoir will cover a maximum area of 590 km2 under the water level of 674.50 m and the total storage capacity is 7.5 billion cubic meters for a useful capacity of 7 billion cubic meters The water level will be above the mean level around 6 months yr−1 The marling will be around 10 m under in a normal year and 20 m under in a dry year

6.05.4.3.3 Outcome of the Lom Pangar project

The project will allow the current regulated flow of the Sanaga river during low water level, which is currently 600 m3 s−1, to be

925 m3s−1 Given the 3.5 hm cube available at Song Loulou, this flow will allow the Song Loulou hydro plant to run under full

Figure 9 Lom Pangar project zone Reproduced from ARSEL (modified)

capacity during the 5 h peak of electric consumption The Lom Pangar storage dam will bring 120 MW more guaranteed power the existing Edea and Song Loulou hydro plant on the Sanaga river and will yield an average of 250 GWh yr−1

This mean production will be raised to 675 GWh with the development of Natchtigal hydro plant (230–300 MW) and 775 GWh with the development of Song Dong hydro plant (200–300 MW) The development in the future of Kikot (500 MW) and Song Mbengue (900 MW) will also benefit from the Lom Pangar project

This shows that the Lom Pangar storage dam project is a long-term project that will sustain electricity production of current and all future hydro plants installed along the Sanaga river in Cameroon, making more energy available for the upcoming Inga-Calabar high-voltage power line to be built in central Africa

6.05.4.3.4 Project justification and other alternatives

The extension of the Kribi thermal plant under construction is presently the project that might economically compete with the Lom Pangar project

It has been established that the Lom Pangar project will produce within a century 21 million tons of carbon dioxide compared to

17 million tons for the thermal plant But in the long run, the situation will reverse as soon as another hydro plant is developed on the Sanaga river, giving advantage to the Lom Pangar project In fact, Lom Pangar and Nachtigal projects will produce seven times less gas emission than the thermal plant within a century Furthermore, the cost of 1 hydro kWh produced is estimated at €1.98, compared to around €4.57 for the thermal

Another point is that the cost per stored cubic meter is €1.22 for Lom Pangar, which is more than two times less expensive compared to other concurrent solutions, namely Litala on the Lom river, and Bankim and Nyanzom on the Mbam river Among other alternative hydro plant that might meet the short- and mid-term demands, the unit cost of energy (kWh), the energy yielded, and the impacts of Bankim/Nyanzom are closer to Lom Pangar But the Lom Pangar/Nachtigal complex has two disadvantages compared to Bankim/Nyanzom The first is the gas emission, which is higher, and the second is the Cameroon–Chad pipeline, which is on the dam site and should be moved But Lom Pangar has a great advantage because it

is in a region where very few people live in and will avoid important displacement of population compared to Bankim/ Nyanzom

Studies have demonstrated that the optimal size of the dam might be 5.5 billion cubic meters This issue is still to be refined during detailed studies

Based on the current studies and others, the development of the important hydro potential of the Sanaga river and the Lom Pangar storage dam is the best option for the country It will cover all the needs of the country and minimize the gas emission

6.05.4.3.5 Optimizing the reservoir

Given the importance of the flow regulation impact of the Lom Pangar project on the existing and forthcoming hydro plants on the Sanaga river, Cameroon is really concerned by the optimization of the reservoir Several options have been envisaged for a capacity storage varying from 5 to 7 billion cubic meters The evolution of the climate change context is an uncertain issue for the optimization of the size of the dam, though it has been considered that the actual tendency will stop After taking into account the contribution of other dams in the Sanaga basin for a guaranteed flow of 750 m3 s−1 at Nachtigal and 1040 m3 s−1 at Song Loulou during low water level, the studies made by ISL – Oréade-Brèche – Sogreah, in 2007 found an optimal reservoir capacity around 6 km3

6.05.4.4 Memve’Elé

6.05.4.4.1 Project area and location

The site of the Memve’Elé hydro plant project shown on Figure 10 is on the Ntem river, south west of Cameroon, not far from the Equatorial Guinea border, as shown in the figure The river is one of the largest in the country with a mean annual discharge at the dam site of 398 m3 s−1 and a catchment of around 30 000 km2 (Figure 10)

This project was successively studied in the framework of:

1 The ‘Inventory of Hydropower Resources’ of Cameroon published in 1983 by SONEL with Electricité de France (EDF)

2 The ‘Feasibility Study on Memve’Elé hydroelectric power development project’ carried out by Nippon Koeï in October 1993 and funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency

3 Feasibility studies updated by Coyne and Bellier in February 2006

4 Detailed studies by Electricé de France, Globeleq and Sud Energie in Reference [1]

The project is a run-of-river type with a low head dam and its related structures, a headrace channel, a power station, and a high-voltage transmission line from the site to Yaounde or Edea

6.05.4.4.2 Initial cost of the project

The cost estimate of the project is €217.7 millions divided as shown in Table 7 excluding the power line