In the presence of his Guinea-Bissau counterpart Umaro Sissoco Embalo, Congo's President Denis Sassou Nguesso recently inaugurated the Renewable Energy Research Centre. The infrastructure is based in the town of Oyo, where recurrent power cuts are hampering the economic development of at least 5 000 inhabitants.
The time for energy transition has come in Congo. The authorities of this Central African country recently inaugurated the Renewable Energy Research Centre. Comprising offices and accommodation for Congolese and other African researchers, the facility covers an area of 10 000 square metres in the town of Oyo, 400 kilometres from the capital Brazzaville.
“It is a centre that aims to develop applied research in the field of renewable energy. Our country has great potential in terms of green energy resources, particularly hydroelectricity (22 000 MW), biomass, wind and solar energy,” explains Gabin Dimitri Ngantso, a researcher at the Congolese Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technological Innovation.
At a total cost of 24 million euros (15.7 billion CFA francs), the work on the Oyo centre lasted five years. It was financed within the framework of cooperation between the Republic of Congo, the Italian oil group Eni and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). According to Claudio Desclazi, Eni’s managing director, this expected diversification of the electricity mix will facilitate access to electricity in Congolese localities not connected to the national grid.
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In this central African country where the rate of access to electricity is 68.5% according to the World Bank, the authorities are also banking on the future hybrid solar power plant (3.4 MW) in Impfondo, located in the Likouala department. The work, which will start in 2021, is being carried out by Produits de Construction de Brazzaville (PROCOB), a subsidiary of the Belgian company ABC Contracting. The facility, built on an 11-hectare site, will have 11,520 solar panels capable of supplying 6,480 kVa to cope with load shedding.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
