Renewable energy: Gov’t to construct 40MW wind power plants in NW, SW, West.

Minister Essomba made this disclosure Monday June 26 at the National Assembly while interacting with junior parliamentarians. He disclosed that a project to build a 40 MW wind farm on the Bamboutos Mountains in the West Region, and others North West and South West regions is currently under study, adding that the process of securing land for the project is underway. 

He noted that if not for the difficulties in mobilising funds, the project would already have been up and running. It should be noted that electricity shortage is a real social problem in the country, with households and businesses suffering daily. 

Nonetheless, with the aim of multiplying energy sources and improving availability throughout the country, the government has undertaken the construction of several infrastructures in certain high-potential regions. 

In addition to hydroelectricity, the project to electrify 1,000 localities using solar photovoltaic systems has so far brought electricity to 350 localities throughout the country.

The government's objective is to develop renewable energies to account for 25% of the national electricity grid by 2035, that is 1,500 megawatts (MW) distributed as follows: 11% for small-scale hydroelectricity that is 650 MW; 6% for photovoltaic solar power, 360 MW; 7% for biomass, 420 MW; and 1% for wind power, 60 MW. 

As far as wind power is concerned, the potential is rather modest, as average annual wind speeds hardly reach 5m3 per second. However, experts say the Kaelé and Kousseri areas in the Far North Region, the Bamboutos Mountains in the West Region and certain localities in the Adamawa and Centre regions represent significant production reservoirs. 

So far, it's the potential of solar energy that's reassuring, given its abundance and availability, especially in the northern part of the country. Actual sunshine in this part of the country is 5.8 kWh per square metre per day, and 4 kWh per square metre per day in the south, with a capacity of 4.9 kWh per square metre per day for the country as a whole. 

By extrapolation, this sunshine corresponds to a daily technical potential of 780 terawatt hours per day throughout the country. As part of the electricity sector recovery plan (2022-2030), the government has decided to increase solar production to 5% of installed capacity, that is an estimated 250 MW by 2030, compared to 60 MW currently.