Bumbuna Dam

The Bumbuna Dam is a concrete-face rock-fill dam on the Seli River near Bumbuna in Tonkolili District, Sierra Leone, and 350 km from the capital of Freetown, the main consumer. The country's first hydroelectric dam, it supports a 50 MW power station.

The site for the dam at Bumbuna Falls was first identified in 1971, and construction was begun in 1975. Work was halted in May 1997, about 85% completed, due to the Sierra Leone Civil War, and did not restart until 2005. The project was completed and went online in 2009. Nearly a third of the dam's US$327 million cost ($103 million) was supplied by the African Development Bank. 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.

The dam has a maximum height of 87 m, a length of 400 m at the crest and a volume of 2500000 m3. The volume of the reservoir created is 410000000 m3, 428000000 m3 or 480000000 m3. There are two Francis turbines, each rated for 25 MW.

After completion, the project has been plagued with problems, and barely produces 10 MW or 25 MW as of 2013.

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