CAMEROON: after Nachtigal, France’s EDF is to build a new dam on the Sanaga river

Électricité de France (EDF) has joined forces with the government of Cameroon to create Kikot Hydro Power Company. The company's mission will be to develop and build a new hydroelectric dam on the Sanaga River.

A new stage has just been reached in the implementation of the Kikot hydroelectric project in Cameroon. The project will be developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) between the State of Cameroon and Kikot Hydro Power Company. The special purpose company will be jointly owned by Électricité de France (EDF) and the State of Cameroon. A constituent general meeting of Kikot Hydro was scheduled to take place in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé on Monday 25 September 2023.

The establishment of the new company will be followed by its first Board of Directors meeting. The company’s mission will be to build a dam capable of supporting an installed capacity of 500 MW. The project site is located 60 km north-west of Yaoundé, on the border between the Centre and Littoral regions.

Work to start in 2025

The dam will be built on the Sanaga River, which is already home to the 450 MW Nachtigal hydroelectric power station that EDF is building with its partners, notably the Africa50 investment company and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector financing arm of the World Bank Group.

Things are set to accelerate in the coming months for Kikot Hydro, as EDF plans to complete financing for the project in 2024. Construction is due to start in 2025, with commissioning scheduled for 2030. According to EDF, “environmental, social and technical studies are under way. They will enable us to design a sustainable and efficient project that respects the environment and local communities”.

In addition, “a dedicated team from EDF Cameroon is fully involved in the Kikot project. It is based in a recently opened office as close as possible to the project site, in the community of Evodoula. This enables it to work in close contact with the local population,” says the company, which is managed locally by Marlène Biessy. EDF and the State of Cameroon are considering requesting financial support from the IFC for the development of the Kikot hydroelectric project, which is estimated to cost 650 billion CFA francs, or nearly 991 million euros.