The project "Forecast Model for Runoff in the Sanaga River System, Cameroon" is a subproject of the project SCADA/EMS/AMR/MMS Cameroon, which SIEMENS Belgium is executing for the national energy authority ENEO Cameroon. The subproject was performed in collaboration with Ingenieure für Wasser, Umwelt und Datenverarbeitung IWUD GmbH.
The objective of the subproject was the development and implementation of a robust and reliable hydrological model resp. rainfall-runoff model on daily basis. The model should be used for the online forecast of flow at given cross-sections of the middle and lower reach of the Sanaga River, especially at locations directly upstream of the existing run-of-river plants. The subproject included the local setup of the model and training of the ENEO staff on the model.
The Sanaga River at Edea drains an area of approximately 131500 km². At present, the runoff from parts of the upstream catchment (26600 km²) is controlled by three reservoirs. The outflows from these reservoirs are regulated according to the demands of the operational authority. The rainfall-runoff model SANFLOW, which is based on the hydrological model PANTA RHEI, calculates the downstream propagation of the given releases from the reservoirs and the flow contributions from the intermediate basin downstream of the reservoirs. The model superimposes all flows to a total streamflow at required locations along the Sanaga river. Such a flow forecast requires consideration of the flow travel times of up to 8 days before reaching the hydropower plants, and in particular a quantitative areal rainfall forecast of the project area of 1 to 8 days.
The system sketch of the forecast centre (Fig. 1) shows the procedure of "observation - transmission - operating - storing". Meanwhile the system is implemented and successfully operated by ENEO.
SIEMENS Belgium
SIEMENS Belgium, ENEO Cameroon