Speech delivered by the GM of Eneo Cameroon during the ceremony to sign the Certificate of the Tested Capacity of generator N°1 of the NHPC Power Plant
The Minister of Water Resources and Energy,
The General Manager of the National Electricity Transmission Company,
The General Manager of EDF Group and CEO of EDF Renewables,
The General Manager of NHPC,
General Managers,
Ladies and gentlemen in your respective grades and ranks,
Many, extremely impatient, waited to witness Nachtigal generate and inject its first megawatt hours. This wait often caused the public to be frustrated and even sceptical.
But today, we can imagine the sighs of relief from our customers, whether they are residential, commercial or industrial.
Commissioning the largest power generation facility in Cameroon will help to considerably reduce constraints relating to balance between supply and demand, reduce dependence on diesel, and increase the available offer of clean electricity.
Today, we are gathered here to mark this major event for Cameroon.
And for me it is a pleasure and honour to represent ENEO at this ceremony.
There are three main reasons for ENEO's presence here today.
1. The first is that ENEO's teams considerably contributed to the contractual, technical and financial engineering of this project, and, for those who were there back then, as from 2013.
Several challenges were encountered during this crucial stage. They related among others to negotiations of the various agreements tied to this project or helping reassure NHPC donors on the relevance and viability of this project from an energy, financial and economic point of view.
I would like to hail here the spirit of collaboration and sharing that obtained between the government’s teams notably those of MINEE, MINFI and ARSEL, and those of ENEO - but also with the teams of SONATREL newly created back then, and those of EDC. Simply put, the teams of Team Electricity in Cameroon.
This illustrates quite brilliantly the collaboration between all the actors of the sector, which is the guarantee of the Country’s major projects, and which makes it possible to obtain tangible results in the interest of Cameroonians.
2. The second is that ENEO is the sole buyer of the power generated by NHPC and as such will have the huge responsibility of paying the bills of this power plant and ensuring that power reaches end - users.
In this regard, this is the beginning of a new stage. A new stage dedicated to speeding up extension and modernisation of transmission and distribution networks to enable us to make sure existing and future demand, notably from the country’s key industrial customers, will be met through this new supply of energy.
At this stage, the first actions of ENEO have entailed ensuring the construction of electricity distribution networks from the Nyom source substation. Eneo is planning to add value to part of the electricity generated by the Nachtigal dam through an ambitious programme to build 14 new major public distribution lines, 06 of which have already been built. Furthermore, a CFAF 8 billion investment has been launched to supply power to new peripheral neighbourhoods and villages of Yaounde as well as to improve on service quality to Obala and in the Lekie Division.
3. Lastly, it is because ENEO collaborated right from the start of the construction phase with the EDF group and with NHPC teams to implement an expertise sharing programme.
As such, we initiated, with NHPC, a programme to share best practices, involving joint immersion of our respective operational teams.
We of course are planning to continue this sharing programme so that Cameroon engineers further build their capacity in the operation of hydroelectric facilities.
The Nachtigal hydroelectric facility is an undeniable breakthrough in developing and securing electricity generation in Cameroon.
Here, Cameroon is consolidating its lead in renewable energy deployment given that hydroelectricity is the bedrock of the clean energy of tomorrow.
The Country’s hydroelectric potential is an asset. And the national hydroelectric program, launched long ago, through the commissioning in the early 1950s of the Edea power plant, the forebear of all hydroelectric power plants in Cameroon gives the country an obvious competitive edge, in the region and across the continent, the effects of which have begun to manifest and will only increase in the coming years and decades.
The commissioning of this first generator is synonymous with the advent of a new era of collaboration and synergy, between all the stakeholders in the sector, under the auspices of the Government of the Republic of Cameroon.
In fact, it is worth recalling that tests to commission the plant's other generators will continue. In this context and pursuant to the agreements governing this project, the role of Transmission Network Manager will be vital. Permit me use the occasion to salute the spirit of collaboration of SONATREL teams during this project.
To conclude, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Minister of Water Resources and Energy for his continuous support, as well as to NHPC and SONATREL for their precious collaboration. I am convinced that together we will be able to effectively meet the challenges we face, and to attain our joint objective of ensuring the stability and growth of the electricity sector in Cameroon.
Thank you for your kind attention.
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