USA To Boost Energy Generation

George Mbella

29 June 2011

Two advisory firms from the United States of America, USA, have been given the responsibility for the early and timely delivery of feasibility studies on four projects expected to boost energy production and infrastructure in Cameroon.

The companies, Delphos International Ltd and Worley Parsons Group Inc, were winners of a restricted international call for tenders whose results were announced in a press release issued by the Minister of Energy and Water Resources on June 1 2011.

Presiding over the official ceremony of the signature of the three contracts in Yaounde yesterday June 29, the Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Michael Ngako Tomdio hailed the government of the United States of America for providing a non-refundable funding of FCFA 1.3 billion under its United States Trade and Development Assistance grant programme, USTDA, to enable feasibility studies on three projects namely: the Limbe Gas to Electricity project; the Petroleum Products Pipeline Project and the Gas-to-Markets System Project.

The Limbe Gas-to-Electricity Project whose feasibility study will be done by Delphos International Ltd at a cost of FCFA 334 million, concerns the building of a 315 MW capacity plant that will convert gas from the National Oil Refinery, SONARA, into electricity.

It will replace the present 85 MW capacity thermal plant that burns heavy fuel-oil to produce electricity. Worley Parsons Group Inc. will use the sum of FCFA 307 millions to realise the feasibility studies on the Petroleum Products Pipeline project that is expected to transport clean natural gas from SONARA through a viable pipeline network to the main distribution cities of Yaounde and Douala from where it will be supplied directly to households and industries.

Worley Parsons Group will also use FCFA 307 millions to carry out a study of the Gas-to-Markets System project to capture offshore gas, transform and distribute to major gas distribution centres.

These projects add to the Bini à Warak project whose studies are nearing completion and is expected to lead to the construction of an electricity station with an installed generation capacity of 75 megawatts, MW to supply the northern part of the country.

“These projects will diversify Cameroon’s energy to cleaner sources of natural gas, increase energy supply and boost standards of living,” said Robert P. Jackson, ambassador of the USA to Cameroon. While illustrating great advances in US-Cameroon relations in 2011, he expressed trust in the talents of the US firms who have nine months to realise the studies.

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