Far from the urban centers of Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, Congolese President Denis Sassou N’Guesso inaugurated on May 22 the first phase of the hybrid thermal/solar power plant project in Impfondo, capital of the Likouala department. , in the northeast of the country. It is the thermal part of the plant that has been delivered. The project, with a planned capacity of 3.4 MW, is being carried out by Produits de Construction de Brazzaville (PROCOB), a subsidiary of the Belgian company ABC Contracting and financed by the Congolese public treasury. The objective is of course to improve access to electricity in the region. Minister of Energy and Hydraulics, Émile Ouosso revealed to Point Afrique the progress of this project and, at the same time, provided an update on the situation of access to electricity in Congo. Interview.
Le Point Afrique: Why did you choose to build a diesel/solar hybrid power plant rather than a single-energy power plant?
Émile Ouosso: The choice of the two sources of energy production, namely solar and thermal, is part of the perspective of the sustainability of the supply of electricity in the city of Impfondo. We have chosen a complementary method that is in line with the realities of the area. During the day, the solar panels charge the accumulators, that is to say the batteries that store energy to supply the city. In the evening, once the latter are discharged, a group starts automatically to compensate for the system deficit. This is how the thermal power plant takes over by recharging the accumulators so that they are able to ensure the continuity of production throughout the evening until sunrise.
You inaugurate the first section of the plant – its thermal part – which must produce 2×1700 KW. To date, what are the conditions for access to electricity in the Likouala region? Who will benefit from the electricity produced by this plant, and through which distribution network?
This plant must serve the population of Impfondo and its surroundings through the existing distribution network of the company Énergie Electrique du Congo (E²C), which will have to be cleaned up and extended. The town of Impfondo currently has a population of nearly 50,000 with 4,000 subscription policies registered to date with E²C.
The commissioning of this hybrid plant will significantly increase the number of subscribers. To do this, the management of E²C opted for promotional connections for the sum of 31,000 FCFA (47 euros). This amount represents study costs, equipment and the advance on consumption.
What is the cost of this project, according to the different phases?
The overall cost of the work amounts to 18.5 billion FCFA (nearly 28 million euros) divided into two phases. The first, that of the construction of the emergency and auxiliary thermal power plant with an installed power of 3,400 KW with associated medium voltage (MV) evacuation lines, represents a cost of 4.5 billion FCFA (6 millions of euros). In a second step, the cost of building the 6,000 KWC (peak kilowatt) module solar power plant to serve as the main power plant as well as the rehabilitation of the existing low and medium voltage networks and public lighting is to 14.8 billion FCFA (22 million euros). The operation will be entrusted to the local operator (public, editor’s note), E²C, in whom we have great confidence.
Until now, the town of Impfondo has been powered by generators that run on diesel, but suffered power cuts due to the lack of regular fuel deliveries. How will diesel deliveries be arranged to run the plant?
Diesel deliveries will largely depend on the availability of the product from distributors and the allocations likely to be allocated to operate this plant. Currently, the Joint Logistics Company (SCLOG) in Impfondo has a storage capacity in its tanks of 1.2 million liters, or 1,180 m3. It should be noted that deliveries made by river have never reached this volume.
What is the construction schedule for the solar power plant part?
The solar power plant remains on standby for start-up. Mainly consisting of supplies of solar panels and batteries necessary for the storage of the energy produced during the day as well as the deforestation of the platform, the commitment of this phase requires for its launch a substantial deposit of at least 6 billion FCFA (9 million euros) to meet orders. The plant will consist of 12,000 550 watt crystalline type panels placed on a fixed structure, as well as substations, inverters and transformers, with the possibility of extension.
In Congo-Brazzaville, people do not have access to electricity commensurate with the country’s oil and gas resources. The rate of access to electricity is estimated at less than 40% in urban areas and less than 10% in rural areas. What is the government’s strategy to improve the situation and what are the stated objectives?
To answer this question, I am going to remind you of the Energy Boulevard, an ambitious, proactive and futuristic project planned by His Excellency Mr. Denis Sassou N’Guesso, President of the Republic, in 2003, when construction work on the dam was launched. of Imboulou. It aimed for 90% electrification of the country by 2025, with particular emphasis on rural electrification. In 2003, energy coverage was only 25% for the whole country.
Where are we today ?
From now on, in terms of electricity production infrastructure, the country can count on the gas-fired power stations of Côte Matève (300 MW) and Djeno (50 MW) as well as thermal power stations for Brazzaville and the department locations. The Imboulou hydroelectric power station (120 MW) as well as the Liouesso hydroelectric power station, for a capacity of 19 MW, have been commissioned and that of Moukoukoulou (74 MW) has been rehabilitated.
With the commissioning last year of the new Pointe-Noire gas turbine, with a capacity of 170 MW, the energy production of the Congo Power Plant reached 484 MW and thus made it possible to supply more than 2 million households. Congo’s overall electrical power is now 650 MW for an electrical demand of 600 MW. The increase in the capacity of the Congo Power Plant will certainly contribute to improving energy supply and reducing load shedding in the country’s two main cities.
Studies for the construction of the Sounda dam, which will be able to generate up to 1000 MW, have been launched. On this subject, the bet seems already won. The project is progressing in the form of a BOT, under a concession contract with a Chinese company (China Roadwails Twenty) which has already been awarded the contract.
The Congo has also embarked, in cooperation with Cameroon, on the project to implement the Chollet dam in the Sangha department. This power generation facility will be able to generate up to 600 MW. Production will be shared between our two countries.
In 2015, power transmission lines across our country already stretched 1,500 kilometres. To understand how far we’ve come, we must remember that in 2002, these lines were only 700 kilometers long. The network has therefore more than doubled.
There is still a long way to go: it should be noted that the rural electrification rate remains very low in the Republic of Congo, less than 10%, according to official sources. While in urban areas the electrification rate is estimated at 47%. The electrification of rural communities is one of our priorities. Despite the current economic and financial tensions, the government is continuing efforts to improve the electricity production, transmission and distribution system. The Congo has just carried out an ambitious project, with the creation of a solar panel assembly and production unit in Oyo in the Cuvette.
To enable the construction of the Energy Boulevard to be finalized, the government has set itself the challenge of first settling the question of the transport and distribution of the available energy. This is because the energy is not consumed at the production sites; it must be transported to the processing points. Similarly, once transformed, energy must be distributed. However, the distribution network is extremely fragile. The secondary transformer stations are dilapidated, the medium and low voltage lines date from such an ancient period that their dilapidation makes them inoperative. This situation explains the recurring load shedding that households unfortunately experience.
Another area of ??progress expected: the extension of energy transport in the outlying areas of large cities. These areas have been parceled out in an anarchic manner and taken over by a large number of our compatriots. Consequence of this situation: despite the efforts made by the State, the rate of coverage of the population in electricity is only estimated at 35% on average, of which barely 50% in urban areas.
