The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved, through its private sector window, a loan of 57.5 million euros to the Coder Hydropower Project for the design, construction and operation of two run-of-river hydro projects in Ngounie Province and North Gabon.
An AfDB statement made available to PANA here Saturday said the project consists of two run-of-river hydroelectric power plants, a 70 MW plant in the Ngounie Province and a 52MW plant in north Gabon.
Despite a high electricity access rate of up to 83 percent, the Gabon electricity sector still faces frequent electricity shortages and blackouts resulting from high urbanization.
Gabon’s current power shortages hinder the country’s economic and social growth, making it a high governmental priority to revitalise the electricity supply and lower electricity prices.
The government’s goal is to increase generating facilities from 373 MW to 1200 MW by 2020. The current electricity production is split about 50:50 between hydro and diesel oil and Gabon also want to cut environmentally unfriendly and costly diesel power generation.
The project, with a two-year completion target, will provide electricity to the national grid as well as providing security of supply to rural areas.
The completion of this project will allow Gabon to boost its economic growth.
