29th November, Yaounde: At an event in Yaounde in the Republic of Cameroon today, Renewable energy developer Joule Africa announced details of a Project Development Agreement (PDA) with The Government of The Republic of Cameroon to develop a major new national hydroelectric project located on the Katsina Ala River in the Northwest Region of the country.
Joule Africa, an international company with offices in London, Yaounde and Freetown, will now work in partnership with the Government of The Republic of Cameroon and renowned technical hydro-engineering consultancy, Lahmeyer International, to undertake a full feasibility and bankability study.
The Pre-feasibility assessments indicated that the full cascade has the potential to achieve installed capacity of up to 850MW with a planned first stage in excess of 450MW, which at full capacity would represent an increase of more than 40% in the present installed capacity at the national level.
His Excellency Dr. Basile Atangana Kouna, the Minister of Water Resources and Energy, commented: “We are delighted with the swift progress already made by Joule Africa and this new agreement sets a strong and balanced foundation for the next phase in the project’s development. Whilst we are still in the early stages, we are confident that this new project will be capable of representing a major boost of electricity generation for the nation.”
Mark Green, Joule Africa’s President & Chief Operating Officer, added: “Joule Africa will now be embarking upon the preparation of a full feasibility study with Lahmeyer International, assessing the suitability and potential of this development. This will take approximately 12 months, after which we will start to finalise the legal and financial structure with the Government of Cameroon to enable construction to commence. Infrastructure projects such as this take many years to develop, taking into consideration the needs of all the parties who will be impacted by the development. We are committed to meeting the highest standards in our execution of this and all our projects, including maintaining a high level of transparency and open communication during the development.”
Joule Africa Ltd, has made a number of visits to the project site in the past 12 months. During those trips, the company engaged with local communities in the Furu-Awa and Fungom Sub-Divisions of Menchum Division as part of its commitment to social development in the areas in which it works. A recent needs-assessment of the project area has helped Joule Africa to identify additional social activity that the company hopes will bring added developmental benefits to the surrounding area.