An evaluation mission on site  carried out by the Minister of Water and Energy Gaston Eloundou Esssomba  on 20 January reported that the overall progress rate of the project  rises to 80.2%.

The construction of the Nachtigal hydroelectric dam located in the Batchenga locality of the Centre region is progressing at a steady pace. To date, the works which are being executed by the Nachtigal hydro power company shows an execution rate of the project of about 80.2%. The various construction lots are : 81.6% for the civil engineering lot; 75.9% for the electromechanical lot; 100% for the transmission line lot.

In view of the good progress of this project, which covers an area of 421 hectares, the Minister of Water and Energy, Gaston Eloundou Essomba, during his evaluation mission to the site on 20 January, assured us that “in the schedule, it is intended that by the end of the first decade of December 2023, the first machine will be commissioned and we are confident that this objective will be achieved. Thus, the first turbine will produce 60MW which will be injected into the Southern Interconnected System (SIS). With the demand for electricity growing by 2.5% in 2022, according to Eneo, this additional supply of electricity will undoubtedly reduce load shedding.

Initially, the first Nachtigal turbine was scheduled to be commissioned in September 2022, with delivery of all seven turbines scheduled for late 2023. However, there have been delays in completing the work due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its battery of restrictive measures. According to the member of the government, the dam is expected to be fully commissioned by early 2024, with a total installed output of 420 MW. When it is commissioned, the electricity produced will represent almost 30% of the production of the southern interconnected network.