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]

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] 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]

• Bumbuna II Hydroelectric Power Station