Three new power plants are expected to come on-line in Gabon within the next year, as the government looks to meet its goal of more than doubling generation capacity by 2016. The boost to supply should reduce a spate of electricity cuts in Libreville and Port-Gentil, which have constrained economic growth.
On August 15, the president inaugurated a new gas-fuelled power plant in Alénakiri, located on the outskirts of Owendo, the port town just south of Libreville. The facility will have a 70-MW capacity, a sizeable addition to the country's total capacity of 390 MW.
Construction of the Alénakiri plant took 14 months and was carried out by the Israeli engineering and construction firm Telemenia. It will run primarily on natural gas but can use diesel and fuel oil in case of a gas supply interruption. According to government estimates, the project required investment of CFA65bn (€99m), including the construction of an 1825-metre paved access road.
Electricity generated in Alénakiri will support Libreville and its expanding northern suburb of Angondjé, as well as the Nkok Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Gabon is served by three separate regional grids, rather than a national grid.
In comments at the facility's inauguration, Etienne Ngoubou, the minister of petroleum, energy and hydroelectricity, noted that investment in infrastructure has not kept pace with growing power demand in the capital, and that since 2007, Libreville and its environs have faced an insufficient supply of electricity.
Port-Gentil, the economic capital and centre for the oil and gas industry, has also faced recurrent power cuts, but with the establishment of the industrial free zone on Mandji Island, the need for additional capacity has become more urgent in recent months.
As a result, a second gas-fuelled power plant is under construction just outside Port-Gentil. The first phase was completed in August, and when the whole project is complete it should help begin closing the energy gap within the next two years.
The facility will have a capacity of 105 MW and is being built in two 52.5-MW segments, also by Telemenia. Like Alénakiri, the plant will run primarily on natural gas, as well as some diesel and fuel oil, and it will be supplied by a pipeline connecting it to the nearby Perenco gas facility. The cost of the project has been estimated at CFA72.9bn (€111.2m), but according to a Telemenia press release, the final level of investment will depend on the specifics of the gas pipeline. Construction began in early 2012, and the first electricity generation is expected in late 2013.
The two thermal power plants - which represent a continuation of the country's shift away from its large reliance on hydroelectric power - will provide a near-term boost to the electricity supply, but renewable energies still play a key role in Gabon's power strategy, and several projects to develop hydraulic resources are under way. One facility, the Grand Poubara dam and hydroelectric plant, has been constructed and is expected to be commissioned in early 2014. The complex includes a dam, a 46-sq-km reservoir and an 160-MW power plant, which will be scaled up to 280 MW in a second phase.
Grand Poubara will provide power for surrounding rural populations, and two planned electrical transmission lines will distribute energy to key economic and industrial areas in Franceville and Moanda, where Compagnie Minière de l'Ogooué's metallurgy complex is located.
With the Alénakiri plant slated to supply the timber processing zone of Nkok and the Port-Gentil facility set to supply local hydrocarbons activity and the future Mandji Island SEZ, all three of these projects nearing completion should help provide the electricity necessary to support the state's plans for industrial expansion and job creation.
The government has made other changes to the sector's structure in an attempt to hasten expansion in power generation capacity. While the sole electricity utility, Société d'Energie et d'Eau du Gabon (SEEG), was privatised in 1996, in 2011 the state purchased a majority stake in Société d'Électricité, de Téléphone, et d'Eau (SETEG), which now oversees construction of new electricity and water infrastructure. SETEG is managing the building of the power plant in Port-Gentil, for example.
In the same vein, in late 2011 the government established a new utilities regulator, a public infrastructure investment fund and an agency that is responsible for conducting maintenance on power plants and water distribution infrastructure. Much work remains to be done but this more proactive government approach, combined with the commissioning of three new power plants in the next year, should help improve Gabon's electricity supply in the medium term.
© Oxford Business Group 2013
