Bumbuna Dam

The Bumbuna Dam is a concrete-face rock-fill dam on the Seli River near Bumbuna in Tonkolili District, Sierra Leone,[1] and 350 kilometres (220 mi) from the capital of Freetown, the main consumer.[2] The country's first hydroelectric dam, it supports a 50-megawatt (67,000 hp) power station.[1]

Bumbuna Dam
Location of Bumbuna Dam in Sierra Leone
Country	Sierra Leone
Location	Bumbuna
Coordinates	9°4′17.38″N 11°43′22.43″W
Purpose	Power
Status	Operational
Construction began	1990
Opening date	2009
Construction cost	US$327 million
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Embankment, concrete-face rock-fill
Impounds	Seli River
Height	88 m (289 ft)
Length	440 m (1,440 ft)
Spillway type	Bell-mouth
Reservoir
Total capacity	445×10^6 m3 (361,000 acre⋅ft)
Catchment area	3,920 km2 (1,510 sq mi)
Surface area	21 km2 (8.1 sq mi)
Commission date	2009
Turbines	2 x 25 MW (34,000 hp) Francis-type
Installed capacity	50 MW (67,000 hp)
Website https://web.archive.org/web/20140221061321/http://www.bumbuna.sl/

The site for the dam at Bumbuna Falls was first identified in 1971, and construction was begun in 1975.[3] Work was halted in May 1997, about 85% completed, due to the Sierra Leone Civil War, and did not restart until 2005.[3][4] The project was completed and went online in 2009.[5] Nearly a third of the dam's US$327 million cost ($103 million) was supplied by the African Development Bank.[3] A 26 January 2005 report noted that 33 villages would be affected by the dam, although only one (of 16 households and 135 people) would require resettlement.[6]

The dam has a maximum height of 87 metres (285 ft), a length of 400 metres (1,300 ft) at the crest and a volume of 2,500,000 cubic metres (88,000,000 cu ft).[2] The volume of the reservoir created is 410,000,000 cubic metres (1.4×10¹⁰ cu ft),[2] 428,000,000 cubic metres (1.51×10¹⁰ cu ft)[1] or 480,000,000 cubic metres (1.7×10¹⁰ cu ft).[4] There are two Francis turbines, each rated for 25 megawatts (34,000 hp).[3]

After completion, the project has been plagued with problems, and barely produces 10 megawatts (13,000 hp)[7] or 25 megawatts (34,000 hp)[8] as of 2013.

A second phase is planned, for a 110-megawatt (150,000 hp) power station.[9][10] In June 2011, the government announced it had awarded the $750 million Phase II project to Joule Africa, a UK-based company.[8] This will entail a second dam and plant.[8] Construction was set to begin in 2014 and continue on until at least 2017.[8]