The Median Backbone: Connecting nations, powering lives

1,600 km of cross-border transmission lines supporting reliable electricity exchange across West Africa.

In West Africa, the Median Backbone, developed under the leadership of the West African Power Pool (WAPP), is poised to transform lives.

Spanning 1,600 km of transmission lines linking Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, this complex cross-border energy infrastructure project aims to strengthen the exchange of renewable energy across the region and support electrification across thousands of communities, all with the objective of reducing the carbon footprint of the regional power system.

To achieve this, WSP is drawing on a broad coalition of stakeholders and specialist expertise, bringing together national and local authorities, power utilities, funding institutions, NGOs, community leaders and rural communities. From the earliest planning stages, this collaborative approach has sought to balance technical performance, long-term sustainability and biodiversity protection.

Location

Cotonou - Benin

Client

West African Power Pool (WAPP)

Project Status

In progress

This project is a unique opportunity to transform lives. Every decision we have made has been guided by a commitment to minimising the environmental and social impacts of this major undertaking while maximising benefits for local communities.

Hélène Chouinard Project Director, WSP

Hélène Chouinard Project Director, WSP

Key facts

Transmission lines spanning five countries

1,600 km

Stakeholders engaged throughout the project

7,000+

Trees planned through biodiversity offset measures

700,000

Building a cleaner, more sustainable energy system

At the heart of the project is a simple yet essential objective: to contribute to improving the reliability, accessibility and sustainability of electricity supply by supporting the integration of a more renewable energy mix.

Based on WAPP system planning assumptions, by facilitating cross-border power exchanges and supporting improved grid resilience, the Median Backbone is expected to help reduce reliance on more carbon-intensive energy sources, support economic development and improve access to essential services such as healthcare, education and economic opportunities across the regions it serves.

By reducing reliance on more carbon-intensive energy sources, the project is expected to reduce CO₂ emissions by approximately 393,700 tonnes per year, according to WAPP modelling.

Beyond these projected emissions reductions, the project’s broader impact is intended to deliver structural benefits: enabling the countries to pool their power generation resources, particularly hydropower, and optimise the balance between electricity supply and demand across the WAPP network.

These changes are expected to support a more resilient power system, better aligned with long-term sustainability goals.

During early consultations, local authorities stressed the importance of reducing the region's dependence on fossil fuels while maintaining the reliable electricity supply needed to support industrial and agricultural development across the five countries connected by the project.

Our team worked to define the transmission line route by integrating a wide range of technical, environmental and social considerations.

Through the use of advanced digital technologies, extensive field validation work and stakeholder engagement, a preferred route was identified to minimise negative impacts on nearby communities and environmentally sensitive areas from the first stages of project design.

Transforming lives in rural communities

For the more than 500 villages located near the transmission line, future access to electricity represents far more than a matter of convenience.

Access to electricity can create new possibilities for improving education, healthcare and economic development.

The prospect of this transformation is already resonating in nearby communities.

“With access to electricity, our children will be able to study in the evening, and we will be able to preserve and sell fresh food to increase our income,” said one participant in a focus group in Ghana.

By leveraging geospatial data and satellite imagery analysis, we were able to design a route intended to minimises environmental and social impacts while improving network efficiency. Digital tools helped us streamline the collection and use of field data, enabling real-time consideration of key issues and effective collaboration among multiple stakeholders throughout the decision-making process.

Felix-Antoine Audet Geospatial Analyst, WSP

Felix-Antoine Audet Geospatial Analyst, WSP

Managing the complexities of a multi-country project

With five countries involved and a 1,600 km route, the Median Backbone presents a challenge of colossal proportions. Each country has its own legislation, requirements for environmental and social impact assessments, and standards and practices implemented by their respective power utilities.

The project is being delivered under the leadership of the WAPP, with the support of power utilities, including GRIDCo in Ghana, CI-ENERGIES in Côte d'Ivoire, TCN in Nigeria, and the CEB in Benin and Togo, as well as international funding institutions that require adherence to international best practices. In this context, success depends as much on engineering expertise as it does on the ability to bring together and align diverse priorities across institutions, territories and communities.

To address this challenge, our team coordinated local subcontractors and international experts in order to integrate a wide range of considerations into the route selection process and develop an environmental and social management strategy tailored to the project's implementation.

Close collaboration and the mobilisation of multiple stakeholders resulted in hundreds of formal and informal exchanges in the field, as well as engagement with more than 7,000 stakeholders throughout the studies. This extensive consultation process helped anticipate potential issues, help foster community engagement and support, and improve decision-making.

This collaborative approach is not only intended to meet regulatory requirements, but also to maximise the benefits the project delivers to local communities. As one participant in Nigeria noted: “Beyond access to electricity, this project represents a direct employment opportunity for our young people. The construction of the transmission line will generate income for many families and help stimulate the local economy.”

Supporting biodiversity protection for future generations

Protecting biodiversity was a key consideration when defining the transmission line route, particularly through the avoidance of protected areas. Nevertheless, given the richness of local biodiversity, the need to connect key substations and the long distances involved, crossing certain critical habitats proved unavoidable, including elephant migration corridors and ecologically sensitive forest areas.

Our teams identified seven species requiring additional conservation measures, including the western chimpanzee, and developed targeted action plans for each of them. We also prepared biodiversity offset plans intended to compensate for habitat loss, including the reforestation of 2,500 hectares of land.

Through our approach, we sought to minimise adverse impacts by implementing avoidance, mitigation and compensation strategies in accordance with the biodiversity management frameworks that seek to achieve no net loss and net gain. By working with local NGOs and national experts, the project also aims to strengthen monitoring capacity and help support knowledge sharing that can benefit other infrastructure projects across the region.

This project demonstrates that proactive planning is key to effective biodiversity protection. It also represents a valuable learning opportunity for the entire region.

Maya Brennan Jacot Biodiversity Specialist, WSP

Maya Brennan Jacot Biodiversity Specialist, WSP

A sustainable vision for the future

This project reflects WSP's approach to integrating technical, social and environmental considerations into the delivery of complex infrastructure projects. The Median Backbone demonstrates how thoughtful planning and stakeholder collaboration can help connect nations while supporting local communities and protecting biodiversity.

“This project will bring far more than electricity: it will boost local commerce, create jobs and improve our quality of life,” said a participant in stakeholder consultations in Côte d'Ivoire.

Meet the visioneers

Behind the Median Backbone is a multidisciplinary team that worked passionately to balance technical innovation, social considerations and biodiversity protection.

Hélène Chouinard: Project Manager, International EIA coordinated the project, ensuring that technical, environmental and social standards were upheld throughout its delivery. Her expertise in managing multi-country projects helped facilitate effective collaboration among all stakeholders.

Contact Hélène

Maya Brennan Jacot: Biodiversity Specialist led the biodiversity impact assessment and developed offset measures to protect critical habitats.

Contact Maya

Félix-Antoine Audet: Geospatial Analyst played a key role in optimising the route, drawing on advanced geospatial data to minimise environmental impacts and identify optimal transmission corridors.

Contact Félix-Antoine