The Cameroon-Chad Interconnection Project is a bilateral high-voltage (HV) interconnection project between Cameroon and Chad. It will be the first HV interconnector in Central Africa.

The project involves a total of 1,556km of new transmission lines and it secured a partial financing of £251m ($316m) for the section connecting the northern power system of Cameroon with Chad from the African Development Bank (AfDB) in 2017.

The World Bank approved a credit grant of £306m ($385m) through the International Development Association (IDA), for the portion of the project to connect the southern and the northern power systems of Cameroon in June 2020.

The project will be developed as part of a bilateral development agreement signed between the two government utility bodies the Société Nationale du Transport de l’Eléctricité du Cameroun (SONATREL) of Cameroon and Société Nationale d’Electricité du Tchad (SNE) of Chad.

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The Cameroon-Chad Interconnection is intended to help millions of people in both countries with access to reliable and affordable electricity by enabling the supply of clean electricity available in southern Cameroon to northern Cameroon as well as Chad.

Cameroon-Chad Interconnector development

Of the total 1,556km of new transmission lines to be built as part of the HV interconnection project, approximately 1,318km will be in Cameroon and the remaining 238km will be in Chad.

The £592m ($744m) interconnection project will comprise three main components. The first component will involve the interconnection between the southern Reseau Interconnecte Sud (RIS) and the northern Reseau Interconnecte Nord (RIN) transmission systems in Cameroon, collectively called as the RIS-RIN interconnection project.

The second component of the project will establish the connection of the RIS-RIN interconnection system with Chad.

The third component the project will comprise the reinforcement of Chad’s power network and the electricity access expansion in and around N’Djamena, the capital and the largest city of Chad.

SONATREL will be responsible for the new transmission infrastructure development in Cameroon while SNE will develop and operate the new lines and substations to be built in Chad as part of the cross border interconnection project.

The Cameroon-Chad Interconnection route and design details

The RIS-RIN Interconnection in Cameroon will feature a double-circuit 225kV transmission line spanning over 514km from Nachtigal in the RIS to Hourou Oussoa substation in the RIN. A total of four new substations will be constructed along the route at Ntui, Tibati, Yoko, and Hourou Oussoa.

The section interconnecting Cameroon and Chad will involve the construction of a total of 805km of new HV transmission lines.

On the Cameroon side, SONATREL will construct a 225kV double-circuit HV transmission line spanning approximately 250km from Hourou Oussoua to Garoua 2, as well as two 225kV single-circuit lines including a 196km line from Maroua to the border with Chad via Kousseri and a 120km line from Maroua to the border with Chad.

The Cameroon side of the interconnector will also include the construction of two new 225/30kV substations at Garoua 2 and Kousseri, as well as the expansion of three existing 225/30kV substations at Hourou Oussoua, Garoua and Maroua.

On the Chad side, SNE will construct two new 225kV single-circuit lines, including a 14kmline from the border with Cameroon to Gassi and a 225km line from the border with Cameroon to Gassi via Bongor and Guelendeng.

In Chad, two new 225/30kV substations will be constructed at Bongor and Gueledeng, while the existing 90/30/15kV substations at Gassi will be upgraded to 225kV capacity as part of the project.