The West African Development Bank (BOAD) has approved a loan of 15 billion CFA francs (€22.8 million) to Teranga Niakhar Storage. The company is developing a project to build a 30 MWp photovoltaic solar power plant with an electricity storage system.
Good news for Teranga Niakhar Storage. The company has received a loan of 15 billion CFA francs (22.8 million euros) from the West African Development Bank (BOAD). The funding will enable this special-purpose company, which is wholly owned by Energy Resources Senegal, to start work on the solar power plant, which will be located south of the commune of Niakhar, in the Fatik region of western Senegal.
Teranga Niakhar Storage already has a 59-hectare plot of land, allocated to Senegalese National Electricity Company (SENELEC) by a resolution of the Niakhar municipal council. The solar power plant, which will have a capacity of 30 MWp, will be equipped with a 15 MW/45 MWh electricity storage system.
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The electricity produced will be sold to Senegal’s state-owned utility SENELEC. According to the BOAD, the Niakhar solar power plant “will help to better cover electricity demand and secure the country’s electricity supply”. The solar farm will be able to meet the energy needs of 150,000 Senegalese households.
The Niakhar solar project is part of a vast plan by Energy Resources Senegal to deploy 500 MW of installed solar capacity in West Africa by 2025. The company currently operates a 20 MWp solar power plant in Kahone, a town in western Senegal about 5 km north-east of Kaolack. Commissioned in 2018, the plant currently supplies electricity to 150,000 households. These installations further diversify Senegal’s electricity mix. The West African country currently has an installed capacity of 1,555 MW generated from gas, wind, solar and biomass, according to Power Africa.
Jean Marie Takouleu
