Incident at SONATREL Substation for “Key Accounts” in Logbaba and Impact on Electrical Distribution Service
Douala, 04 October 2022- Eneo Cameroon stands in solidarity with its customers impacted by the serious incident that occurred on 20 September 2022, affecting SONATREL facilities in Logbaba. This incident knocked out the 90/15 kV 50 MVA transformer of the “Key Accounts” substation, considerably impacting the stability of electricity supply to some public sector customers.
This situation notably led to the shut-down of several factories that feature among Key Customers in the electricity sector. These customers are industrial companies in the metalworking industry such as Prometal, Métafrique, les Aciéries (average monthly power required of over 31 MW) with huge socio-economic consequences : thousands of jobs threatened and operating losses.
Eneo Cameroon is closely monitoring SONATREL’s handling of the situation.
Eneo contacted SONATREL to request that the process to replace the damaged 90/15 kV 50 MVA transformer for Key Customers in Logbaba should be accelerated and that the schedule as well as time limits should be provided in order to reassure these top-tier customers and mitigate the impact of the prejudice.
Furthermore, Eneo has recommended that this 50MVA transformer should be replaced with a transformer that has the same capacity as the one recently installed at the Ngousso substation.
The current peak observed on the transformer in Ngousso is 27.2MW and as such its loads may be powered by the 36MVA transformer that was replaced and that is being prepared for transfer to the Logbaba Key Account substation. Installation of a 36MVA transformer instead of the 50MVA transformer would require regular use of the Logbaba Thermal Plant for an average period of 16 to 20 hours daily, triggering additional fuel costs of about 19 million CFAF daily to provide uninterrupted power supply to public (households) distribution customers and industrial customers usually powered by this substation.
The aim of the option recommended by Eneo is to avoid these additional operational costs.
About Eneo Cameroon
A driving force in the electricity sector and a major force for growth in Cameroon, Eneo Cameroon's mission is to provide reliable energy and quality service. Based on the values of integrity, cohesion, respect and commitment, since 2014, the company has safely connected more than 700,000 new families and industries bringing the number of its customers to 1.7 million, of which more than 70% are classified in the social category. As such, they benefit from voluntarily advantageous rates. With an estimated workforce of nearly 3,700 employees, Eneo Cameroon is a public-private partnership company that generates and distributes energy in Cameroon. Conscious of its responsibility, Eneo implements and pilots a range of community support programmes. More information about the company can be found at www.eneocameroon.cm
Media contact: Babette Sandjo , 691836060, babette.sandjo@eneo.cm
