Image: Hydro Review
French investment company, Meridiam and the Gabon Power Company (GPC), a subsidiary of the Gabonese Strategic Investment Fund (FGIS), have completed financing for the construction of the 35 MW Kinguélé Aval hydroelectric dam, which is expected to increase the electricity capacity of Gabon’s capital city of Libreville by 15%.
The $179 million development project was financed with support from the African Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation, a subsidiary of the World Bank Group that finances the private sector, as well as from the Development Bank of South Africa and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund.
Gabonese Minister of Energy, H.E. Alain Claude Bilie By Nzé stated that, “The government is targeting 80% of hydroelectricity production to replace thermal energy produced from diesel.”
The Kinguélé Aval hydroelectric dam will be constructed on the Mbéi River, 100km east of Libreville and is expected to come into service within the next three years. The dam will also feature a 35 MW hydroelectric power station that represents a total annual production of 205 GWh and is expected to reduce Gabon’s CO2 emissions by 150,000 tons per year.
