Nachtigal Hydropower Project

Construction of a dam and a hydro-electric station

In partnership with French company NGE and Moroccan company SGTM, BESIX is taking part in developing the Nachtigal hydro-electric project in Cameroon, which will cover 30% of the country's energy needs.

A 420 MW project

The project is located on the Sanaga River, 65 km north of Yaoundé. BESIX is helping build the hydro-electric infrastructures, which will have a production capacity of 420 MW.

The client, Nachtigal Hydro Power Company (NHPC), is a consortium of EDF International, the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group) and the State of Cameroon, and is the largest public-private partnership under way in Africa in the energy sector. Its funding structure received a prize from Project Finance International (PFI), a reference in the field.

We are very happy to strengthen our business in Africa in general and in Cameroon in particular. In the past, we already completed several reference projects in the country, such as building the Yaoundé hospital, various ministry buildings, the Pont de l'Enfance, a spillway on the Sanaga River, and various docks in the port of Douala. With our participation in the Nachtigal hydro-electric project, we are proud to contribute to the development of renewable energy in the country.

Work description

The works consist of designing and building a 1.5 km long, 14 m high dam wall. To this is added the construction of a 3 km+ supply canal, and the civil engineering work for the hydro-electric plant and the water intake installations.