After securing over 557 BFCFA loan: SONATREL sets stage for delivery of Cameroon-Chad electricity connection.

Consequently, SONATREL has awarded three contracts for the three different lots of the project. 
We gathered that two Indian companies won contracts to execute the first two lots while contract to execute the third lot went to a different company.
The contract award notice signed by Victor Mbemi Nyankga, the Managing Director of SONATREL, which oversees execution of the project indicated that Indian firms, Kalpataru Projects International Limited and Transrail Lighting Limited, secured these lots of the Cameroon-Chad electrical interconnection project.
With some of the funds provided by the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the European Union, and the two countries involved, an estimated 557.5 billion FCFA would be used to cover these lots.
The official communique added that the Indian service providers are responsible for the design, supply, and installation of high-voltage lines for the 225 kV interconnection between the Southern Interconnected Network, RIS and the Northern Interconnected Network, RIN in three lots. 
The total value of the contract is estimated at a little more than 119.7 billion FCFA, with a 20-month execution period for each lot.
In detail, Kalpataru Projects International Limited secures lots 1 and 2 of the project. Lot 1, valued at 41.4 billion FCFA, involves high-voltage line work from Nachtigal to Yoko in the Centre Region. 
Lot 2 covers the construction of a high-voltage line from Yoko to Tibati in the Adamawa Region at the cost of 34.1 billion FCFA.
Lot 3 is awarded to Transrail Lighting Limited and involves the design, supply, and installation of the high-voltage line from Tibati to Wouro Soua also in the Adamawa Region for a projected cost of 44.2 billion FCFA.
SONATREL assured that for these contracts, the two selected companies competed with several others, including the Synohydro consortium, whose offers were rejected for non-compliance in all three lots. 
The company further averted that Companies such as the China Railway First Group consortium, Kec International, and Larsen & Toubro, had their offers evaluated but were not selected.
Kalpataru has previously worked on several electrical projects in Africa and Cameroon, including the construction of the 225 kV power transmission line between Nkongsamba-Bafoussam and Yaoundé-Abong-Mbang. 
Transrail Lighting Limited, on the other hand, claims to have proven its capabilities in various projects in Africa.
With the awarding of these contracts, the construction work for this project, officially launched on November 21 in Yaoundé, is expected to commence effectively. 
Once completed, the project aims to supply the northern regions of Cameroon and Chad, thereby improving electricity access rates in both countries. 
It involves transporting the electric power generated by the Nachtigal Dam (420 MW), still under construction in the Central Region of Cameroon, over a transport network spanning more than 1,300 km to reach the Chadian city of Bongor.