Gov't Needs Engineering Consulting Firm for Menchum Hydropower Project

This is to assist the project owner with the design, supervision of works and commissioning.

The government of Cameroon is seeking the services of an engineering consulting firm to assist the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy during preparation, construction and commissioning of the Menchum hydroelectric power plant in Menchum Division of the North West Region.

A restricted international tender has been launched to four prequalified engineering firms after a May 6, 2013 call for expression of interest. Tractebel Engineering S.A., Artelia Eau & Environnement, Lahmeyer International & Bill and SNC Lavalin are therefore vying for the position. Upon selection, the contractor shall be expected to validate the detailed feasibility studies and contract documents for the construction and operation phases of the plant and negotiate with the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor and the lenders to the project on the legal, environmental, social, technical and financial aspects. It will also validate the technical and financial records provided by the contractors including the technical specifications of materials, goods, prices and terms of commissioning as well as control the quality of works and associated costs as well as compliance with the schedule. Even while waiting for the terms of reference wherein the works of successful contractor will be clearly defined, it goes without saying that the consulting firm will equally have a task of preparing the records of commissioning technical testing and monitoring of performance of the equipment including factory and in-site tests.

The tender gives precision and rekindles hopes of take off of the much-heralded project expected to gulp some FCFA 500 billion to produce 450 Megawatts (MW) of electricity. Reports say the pre-feasibility assessment shows that the full flow has the potential to achieve installed capacity of up to 850 MW with a planned first stage in excess of 450 MW, which at full capacity would represent an increase of more than 40 per cent in the country's current installed capacity.