Equatorial Guinea receives financial support for its Sendje hydroelectric power plant project

The government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea has received financial support of over US $137M for its Sendje hydroelectric power plant project which is currently under construction at Weller River about 40 km from Bata, a port city on the mainland of the Central African Country.

The funds, which are particularly aimed at enabling the continuation of the construction works of the 200MW power plant, will come from the Development Bank of Central African States (BDEAC) in form of a grant following an agreement signed between the two institutions early last month.

An overview of the project

The Sendje hydroelectric power plant project begun construction back in 2012. The work is being carried out by Duglas Alliance, a Ukrainian company that specializes in the execution of hydroelectric and industrial facility projects.

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The scope of the work included the construction of a 21.57 km2 reservoir and the installation of four turbines, each with a capacity of 50 MW, supplied by Alstom, a company based in France.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of this year with a voltage output of about 220 kV and an average annual output of approximately 1,402 million kWh.

Benefits of the eventual Sendje hydroelectric power plant

Once operational, the Sendje hydroelectric power plant will supply the cities of Bata, Mbini, Kogo, Añisok, Mongomo, Ebebiyin, among others on the mainland of Equatorial Guinea with “clean” and “sustainable” energy at reduced costs per kW/h. This will be essential in the efforts to make up for the electricity deficit that is paralyzing the economic growth of the mainland and the entire country at large.

In addition, the hydroelectric power plant will contribute to the reduction of dependence on oil-fired thermal generation units, consequently improving the country’s carbon footprint and mitigating the effects of climate change.