The Somali Government has submitted its Intended National Determined Contributions (INDC) to the UN this week. INDCs outline climate actions that individual countries intend to undertake under the new climate agreement to be decided at the COP21 conference in Paris, starting on 30 November. A US$28M project to rehabilitate the Fanoole hydropower dam has been suggested in the country's plans.
The Fanoole hydroelectric dam was constructed with the assistance of China from 1977 to 1982 at a cost of about US$50M. The dam and its canal system provided irrigation for government owned rice and sesame farms and provided electricity to the towns of Jilib and Marerey. The plan was to extend the electricity to Jamame and other towns downstream but the onset of the civil war interrupted the initiative. In addition the path of the river flow has changed since the 1998 El Nino rains.
Rehabilitation of Fanoole dam is considered to be a priority for the reconstruction and development of the Middle and Lower Jubba regions. Currently all electricity in this region is from diesel-fuelled generators and so the production of 4.6MW of hydropower from the rehabilitated scheme would contribute towards the country's climate change goals.
