Cameroon Advances Mbakaou Hydro-Solar Project with CFA1.45 Billion in Detailed Studies

Cameroon’s Electricity Development Corporation (EDC) has moved the proposed Mbakaou hydro-solar complex into a more detailed stage of preparation, with CFA1.45 billion budgeted for studies that will help define the design of a project previously presented at about 400 MW.

The state-owned company launched two restricted national tenders on Aug. 12, 2026, for investigations required to prepare the project’s detailed design. The studies will examine the geological, geotechnical, topographic and bathymetric conditions around the Mbakaou reservoir dam in Cameroon’s Adamawa region.

The tenders come nearly a year after EDC presented a 400 MW configuration for the complex. That plan included a 54 MW hydropower plant upstream of the Mbakaou reservoir dam, a 234 MW hydropower plant downstream and a 111 MW solar plant. The individual capacities published by EDC, however, add up to 399 MW.

Neither of the two August 2026 tender notices specifies a generating capacity. The configuration that emerged from the feasibility stage could therefore either be confirmed or adjusted once the detailed studies are completed.

The CFA1.45 billion represents the estimated cost of the studies rather than construction expenditure. The contracts have not yet been awarded, and EDC has not disclosed how much it expects the energy complex itself to cost.

CFA1.15 billion to investigate future structures

The larger of the two contracts covers detailed geological and geotechnical studies. EDC has estimated its cost at CFA1.15 billion, including taxes, with a maximum execution period of eight months.

EDC is seeking a G2 design geotechnical study under the NF P 94-500 standard, with the work to include boreholes and testing.

The investigations are intended to provide more precise information on seismic conditions, geology and foundation permeability, as well as the mechanical characteristics required to calculate the stability of the future structures.

The tender notice also provides further indications of the configuration under consideration. Investigations will cover the sites of the “upstream plant, downstream plant, [and] river weir.”

The studies must produce recommendations for the location and design of the structures, as well as the composition of concrete and the selection of cement to be used.

The second contract, estimated at CFA300 million including taxes, covers topographic and bathymetric studies. The consultant will have a maximum of six months to complete the assignment.

The work will include additional bathymetric surveys of the reservoir, integration of the data with Cameroon’s National Geodetic Network, and the establishment of height-area-volume relationships for the reservoir dam and the future river weir.

According to the tender notice, those data are intended to “serve as a basis for the preparation of the detailed design.”

Bids for the topographic and bathymetric studies are due Sept. 15, 2026, while bids for the geological and geotechnical work are due Sept. 16.

EDC will finance the assignments through its budget for 2026 and subsequent years.

The combined CFA1.45 billion is therefore an estimated budget for preparatory studies. It does not represent contracts that have already been awarded and, more importantly, should not be interpreted as the cost of building the Mbakaou complex.

Environmental study proceeds in parallel

EDC has also started work on the project’s environmental and social assessment.

On July 21, 2026, the company launched the recruitment of a consultant to conduct a detailed environmental and social impact assessment for the “hydroelectric complex downstream of the Mbakaou reservoir dam associated with a solar power plant.” The Public Procurement Regulatory Agency published the notice the following day.

The consultant will be required to assess the project’s direct and cumulative impacts, identify affected populations and other stakeholders, organize public consultations and examine how the proposed new infrastructure could affect the existing dam.

The assignment also includes support for EDC during approval procedures with Cameroon’s Ministry of the Environment and international financial institutions.

Mbakaou had already emerged as a priority site during earlier work on the development of hydropower along the Sanaga system.

In its April 22, 2025, completion report on technical assistance for hydropower development on the Sanaga River, the World Bank said Mbakaou had been selected as a priority site for technical assistance after an assessment of Kikot, Grand Eweng, Song Mbengue and Mbakaou.

EDC had awarded the project’s feasibility studies in July 2024 to a consortium led by ISL Ingénierie, alongside Nodalis, Oréade Brèche and Fatsons Engineering.

Those studies covered the technical, economic, financial, environmental, social and transaction aspects of the project. They provide the basis for the more detailed investigations now underway.

Construction cost and financing remain unknown

The procedures launched in 2026 do not constitute a construction contract or a financing decision for the Mbakaou complex.

EDC has so far disclosed neither the project’s investment cost nor a construction schedule. It has also provided no commissioning date or definitive financing structure.

Any eventual division of the project’s financing between public resources and private capital also remains unknown.

The proposed complex should not be confused with Mbakaou-Carrière, a much smaller hydropower plant operated by IED Invest Cameroun.

Mbakaou-Carrière entered service in early 2022 and has an installed capacity of 1.5 MW. It supplies electricity to Tibati and seven other rural communities.

The latest studies therefore advance the technical preparation of a much larger energy project at Mbakaou, but key questions—including its final capacity, construction cost, financing structure and development timetable—will remain open until EDC completes further stages of project preparation.

Baudouin Enama