Besix, the largest Belgian group operating in the construction of buildings, infrastructure, has won a contract to design and build a dam and hydroelectric power station in Cameroon.

With this new project, the multiservice group Besix, in partnership with the French company NGE and Moroccan company SGTM will participate in the electrification of the country with renewable energy produced for NHPC, a project company whose shareholders are EDF International, the State of Cameroon and the International Finance Corporation.

Besix has won a contract to design and build the Nachtigal dam. Located on the River Sanaga, some 65 kilometres north of Yaoundé, this hydroelectric dam will increase the country's supply of renewable energy.

The Nachtigal amont hydropower project is one of the very few public-private partnership hydro-electric projects in sub-Saharan Africa, and will accelerate the achievement of Cameroon's development goals, including access to electricity. The dam will increase the country's electricity generating capacity by 30 per cent.

The contract involves designing and building a 2-km-long and up to 14-m-high dam in roller compacted concrete, a 3-km supply canal and the civil engineering works of the hydroelectric power plant (with seven 60 MW turbines) and water intake facilities.

Work will begin before the end of the year and is expected to last 57 months. The project is financed by a pool of international and local lenders.

Mathieu Dechamps, the general manager of international business unit said Besix Group was excited at strengthening its business in Africa in general and in Cameroon in particular.

"We have already carried out a number of reference projects in the country. These include the Yaoundé hospital buildings, various ministries, the Pont de l'Enfance bridge, a spillway on the Sanaga River, as well as various docks in the port of Douala," he noted.

"With our participation in the Nachtigal hydropower project, we are proud to contribute to the development of sustainable solutions," he added.-TradeArabia News Service