The Eranove Group, a Pan-African firm is set to deliver a 42MW hydroelectric power station in Mali at a cost of US$124m. The power station will be sited at the Kenié hydroelectric dam perpendicularly to the Niger River which is approximately 35km away from the east of the capital Bamako.
The Kenié Energie Renouvelable signed the 30-year concession agreement contract on behalf of the Eranove Group with the Mali government. The agreement stated that Eranove has the responsibility to finance, develop, construct and operate the Kenié hydroelectric dam project. However, according to the government of Mali the power station will as well be capable of generating about 175GWh which is equivalent to the average annual consumption of 175,000 households.
However, the construction work on the Kenié hydroelectric dam project is scheduled to commence in 2016 followed by the station commissioning and operation in 2020 under the concession agreement by Kenié Energie Renouvelable, whose shareholders will also include IFC InfraVentures.
According to Marc Albérola, the Eranove Group CEO, hydro-electricity can play a key role in increasing power generation capacity given that Hydro-electric power is one renewable energy source that is in abundant supply in Africa and that micro and pico hydro-electricity should not be ignored either.
He further explained that, small hydro-electric facilities are capable of supplying power to villages in remote areas that are far from interconnected transmission systems. He went on stressing that hydro-electricity is a competitive renewable source of power in terms of production costs, and can largely contribute to the financial balancing of power sectors as well as meeting the power demand.
