Cameroon's Hydropower Feed to Double Rio Tinto Alcan's Aluminum Smelter Production

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A new, 360-megawatt (MW) hydropower project on Cameroon's Sanaga River in West Africa will supply the majority of its output to the aluminum plant at Edea, which will allow the government and Rio Tinto Alcan (LSE:RIO) (London, England), which are partners in the joint venture, to double production.

The hydro plant will be sited at Natchtigal Falls, about 60 kilometers northeast of the capital Yaounde.

The Cameroon government, Electricite de France (EDF) (Paris, France) and the International Finance Corporation (Washington D.C.), which is a member of the World Bank Group, have signed an agreement for the $814 million project. Under the agreement, EDF will contribute 40% of the total investment, IFC 34% and the government 26%. The agreement also requires the developers to begin construction of the project within six months of the contract's signing.

Government sources report that the projects' installed capacity can be extended to 420 MW. The guaranteed capacity is likely to be 270 MW, with a scope of extending it to 330 MW.

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