The Nangbeto hydropower plant in Togo is set to undergo rehabilitation and modernization after German company Voith Hydro won the contract to carry out the operation.
Heike Bergmann, Deputy Director of African Sales at Voith Hydro confirmed the reports and said the objective is for the facility to continue to provide energy to the Togolese and Beninese populations.
“This project and the successful cooperation with our local partners provide us with a good basis for further modernization work in Central and West Africa,” said Heike Bergmann.
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Nangbeto hydropower plant
Nangbeto hydropower plant, located in the south of Togo, has a production capacity of 65 MW. The Benin Electricity Council, which is responsible for this work, commissioned the Nangbeto hydroelectric power plant in 1988. The energy it produces is sold to Togo Électricité, the public company responsible for electricity distribution, and to its sister company, the Beninese Electric Power Corporation, as well as to the Togolese Phosphates Agency. Its dam was built on Mano, a river with a rather irregular course.
Construction of this infrastructure cost more than US $98m which was provided by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB). The plant has been in operation for 35 years on the border between Benin and Togo.
Fishing zones
Voith Hydro is expected to rehabilitate all generators, inspect the turbines and rehabilitate the cooling system. The company will start by shutting down a generator, restarting it after work, before doing the same work on the second one.
The hydropower dam which is also used to irrigate fields in several localities in southern Benin and Togo, will require an investment of US $25m for the rehabilitation and modernisation. Voith Hydro has until 2022 to deliver the project.
Unlike the design of hydroelectric projects, the other objective of the project was to create fishing zones, thanks to the reservoir that collects up to 1.7 billion m3 of water. 1000 to 1500 tons of fish would be produced each year and 43,000 hectares of land would be irrigated by the dam.
“Nangbeto is the only power plant that simultaneously supplies Togo and Benin with renewable energy. We are proud to make this plant fit for the future,” said Heike Bergmann.
