VZCZCXRO6041
PP RUEHBC RUEHBZ RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHKUK RUEHMA
RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNJ #0284 1941535
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131535Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7095
INFO RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 0010
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS NDJAMENA 000284 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AF/C AND EEB 
LONDON FOR POL - LORD 
PARIS FOR POL - KANEDA 
ADDIS ABABA FOR AU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EINV ENRG PREF CD
SUBJECT: CHAD'S ELECTRICITY: MORE GENERATION BY 2011, AWAITING 
COOLER TEMPS IN SHORT TERM 
 
REFTEL: 222 (NOTAL) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (SBU)  Yaccoub Brahim Djouma, Director General of the national 
electric company, had little relief to offer for the weeks-long 
power outages that were commonplace in the capital, counting on 
replacement parts and cooler temperatures, in a meeting with emboffs 
July 6.  He outlined a long-term plan to address the electricity 
shortage in the capital through two contracts to bring an additional 
ninety (90) megawatts of electricity online in the next two years. 
Yaccoub, a nephew of President Deby, assured us that the President 
was determined to resolve the capital's electricity crisis by 2011, 
which is -- not coincidentally -- the date for the next presidential 
election.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Electricity problems continue in Chad's capital, 
N'Djamena.  Residents and businesses routinely suffer from outages 
that last weeks; many government offices have been without 
electricity for over two weeks.  One of the city's two main power 
stations has been offline since April, awaiting repairs, while the 
second's output has been reduced by cuts in underground transmission 
lines (the result of extensive road construction in the city).  The 
Chadian Water and Electricity Company (STEE) itself lost electricity 
during emboffs' meeting with Director General Yaccoub Brahim Djouma, 
who recently returned to the position from several years at the 
Ministry of Finance. 
 
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SHORT TERM HOPES 
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¶3.  (SBU)  Yaccoub told emboffs that replacement parts and cooler 
temperatures would ameliorate outages in the short term.  Necessary 
repairs to one plant at Farcha, a northwest suburb of N'Djamena, 
would be completed soon and replacement equipment for the damaged 
transmission lines had arrived, which would enable both plants to 
increase generation capacity shortly.  In addition, the rainy 
season, due to begin any day, would bring cooler temperatures and 
reduce the high demand for electricity.  Yaccoub underscored that 
President Deby had decided the capital's electricity problems would 
be resolved by 2011. 
 
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LONGER-TERM SOLUTIONS 
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¶4.  (SBU)  Yaccoub outlined the GOC's long-term plan to increase 
power generation in the capital.  He stated that the government had 
recently signed a contract for a new plant of 60 megawatts (MW) to 
be located in Farcha.  The French subsidiary of Finnish company 
Wartsilia would do the construction, having already built other 
plants in Chad.  Yaccoub said that the European Union had also 
agreed to build a new 30 MW plant, with the EU financing 20 MWs and 
the GOC financing the remaining 10 MWs.  The location of the 
EU-financed plant had not yet been determined, according to Yaccoub, 
but would likely also be northwest of the city.  He said that both 
plants are expected to be operational in eighteen to twenty-four 
months. 
 
¶5.  (U)  Minimize considered. 
 
NIGRO