Gabon is currently facing a huge energy crisis. Entire cities are experiencing power cuts. Economic operators and the population are depressed by the inconvenience caused. The government, for its part, is trying to reassure and is looking for solutions to resolve this problem in the long term. Hence the working session on February 12, 2025 between the Prime Minister of the Transition, Raymond Ndong Sima, investors and the managers of Gabon Power Company ( GPC). In the pipeline: the launch next June of construction work on the Owendo gas thermal power plant, with an energy capacity of 125 Megawatts.
To address the energy crisis in Gabon, the government has been considering and has launched several projects aimed at providing solutions to this problem. In this perspective, the Prime Minister of the Transition, Raymond Ndong Sima, discussed, on February 12, with the heads of the Gabon Power Company management. At the center of the discussions, the implementation of the Owendo IPP project aimed at building a gas-fired thermal power plant near Owendo. Civil engineering work could start next June.
These last few weeks have been particularly marked by power cuts, the government wants to strengthen energy production capacities in Gabon. And the general director of Gabon Power Company, Philippe Junior Ossoucah, indicated that “this meeting follows the audience that he (the Prime Minister, Editor’s note) wanted to grant us last week in order to accelerate the implementation of the Owendo IPP project which aims to build a gas-fired thermal power plant near Owendo, close to the existing SEEG plant.”
Presented as an ambitious project, this gas-fired thermal power plant will significantly improve the energy supply in greater Libreville. However, it requires that certain conditions be lifted first. Among these, we are talking about ” the restoration of the legal framework with the signing, on February 19, of the amendments, the granting of a certain number of tax breaks to reduce the cost of the project and reassure the partners under the payment guarantee .”
More than 300 direct jobs
Construction work should be launched next June. All things mark a significant step in the realization of this project. “For 4 years now, we have been working with our historical partner GPC on the IPP Owendo project in order to finance, build and maintain a thermal power plant ,” said Pauline Morin, general manager of the Africa development of Wartsila, one of the shareholders of the project.
Led by Gabon Power Company and supported by several partners, including Wartsila, this project, located in the Akournam 2 district in the commune of Owendo, will meet the growing demand for energy in Greater Libreville. Also having to come out of the emergency plans, the project has recorded the entry of other shareholders, namely Africa 50 and MPE, into the capital. “Our presence here in Gabon follows the meeting between our CEO and the President of the Transition, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, last month in Tanzania, concerning the Owendo gas-fired thermal power plant project. Today, we are here for meetings with partners to formalize the entry of Africa 50 into the capital of the project , ” said Reda Souini, Africa 50’s investment manager.
The future gas-fired thermal power plant in Owendo should also generate jobs and stimulate the economy. This is in line with the Transition roadmap in its sustainable and economic development dimension. It is also stated that ” the new power plant is intended to replace the leased Aggreko groups with a sustainable infrastructure with better performance and increased power .”
Expected to create more than 300 direct jobs, the work is expected to be completed in 2027.
