The World Bank says it is funding a $1 billion project to expand Cameroon’s Nachtigal hydropower plant from 60 MW to 360 MW.
This World Bank Group revealed that the injection work will involve adding 6 out of 7 turbines to the plant, bringing its total capacity to 360MW.
The Bank said that with a total installed capacity of 360MW, the hydropower plant will contribute nearly 30% to the country’s power generation mix.
The World Bank mentioned it is funding the project, valued at $1 billion, alongside partners like the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The Bank says the works on the hydropower plant will be completed in January 2025.
The Nachtigal hydropower plant started supplying 60 MW to the grid in 2024 with only one turbine. The remaining six turbines were expected to be added at a rate of approximately one per month.
The World Bank says the hydropower project will set Cameroon on course for affordable, reliable, and improved electricity access.
“.. It will add almost 30% of renewable energy to the generation mix and constitutes the first phase of a sustainable hydropower development roadmap on the Sanaga River. The additional energy will ultimately provide the entire population and businesses with more affordable, reliable, and clean power,” the World Bank says.
In Cameroon, the World Bank reveals:
“Only 71% of the population has electricity access, and the cost is among the highest in the region. In rural Cameroon, 75% of the population are without access to electricity, even though many live near the grid”.
The government of Cameroon has an ambitious plan to increase access to electricity and strengthen transmission capacity to meet a surge in demand, projected by the World Bank to quadruple by 2035.
The completion of the turbine injection works at the plant is central to this vision and will help drive the country’s energy future.
Cameroon is part of the Mission 300 movement which aims to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.
The 2025 edition of the Mission 300 Energy Summit is ongoing in Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam, with a dozen African leaders seizing the opportunity to accelerate electricity access across the continent.
Africa has enormous renewable energy resources; from solar PV to hydropower and geothermal. Rystad Energy projects that the continent is on course to surpass Europe in geothermal energy production by 2030
