Project for the decentralized production of electricity and Valorization of the Rural electricity for agriculture and rural development in Cameroon, PLAN VER.

In 2014, a partnership between the Rural Electricity Agency of Cameroon, the Special Fund for Equipment and Intercommunal Intervention (FEICOM) and IED, was signed to carry out a project Energy Facility of the European Union (co-financed by the State of Cameroon):  the project Plan VER (decentralised production of electricity and enhancement of rural electrification for agriculture and rural development).

The main objectives of the project are:

• Improving access to energy in rural areas, in quantity and quality;
• Strengthen synergies between electrification and agricultural/rural development;
• Develop local hydropower generation (in a decentralised site or connected to the national network) with the involvement of the Commons, through Public-Private Partnerships.

One of the actions of the VER Plan consists on the one hand in the construction of a small hydroelectric power plant and associated networks within the perimeter of a concession of the national electricity distributor ENEO (commune of Batié, department of the High plateaus) and in the construction of a clearing station and associated networks outside this perimeter (in the department of Mbam-and-Kim). These two components offer the opportunity to serve nearly 6000 households downstream of these sites and to have energy both in quantity and better quality, for the development of at least 200 productive uses in the agro-pastoral field.

IED thus acts as a technical assistant for the construction of these two equipments and has notably carried out the studies of Detailed Pre-Project that began  in 2018.

At present, the Call of Offers documents for the selection of construction companies for the  construction  of the Mbamand Kim developments are being finalized..

On the side of the Small Hydroelectric Power Plant of Batié, with a capacity of 1.6 MW and operating a fall of 117m on the Ché  Ngwen River, the Call for Offers for the selection of construction companies is underway, the pre-information notice is currently online until June 12, 2020:  https://www.jeuneafrique.com/annonce/944011/avis-de-pre-information/. This Call for Offers includes two lots:

• Completion of civil engineering work;
• Supply, installation and commissioning of hydro-electromechanical and control-control equipment.

Plane view from the top of the catch of the Small Batié Hydroelectric Power Plant

Development scheme for the Small Hydroelectric Power Plant in Batié