The second edition of the Phanes Group solar incubator was held on the theme “Your project, our expertise, for a sustainable future.” The main objective of the competition is to provide photovoltaic project developers with technical, commercial and financial expertise. It is open to candidates from sub-Saharan Africa.
Mbaye Hadj on his part wants to build a 30-megawatt solar farm in Gossas (a city in western Senegal, 160 km from Dakar). He submitted his project to the Phanes Group competition. On November 12, 2018, the results came out and made Mbaye the winner. Based in Dubai, Phanès Group, developer, investor and manager of international assets in the field of solar energy, wish to encourage the African talent and provide support in the implementation of his project by awarding the prize. For its Director General, Andréa Haupts, the Senegalese initiative was chosen for several reasons. “The Mbaye Hadj project attracted the evaluation panel not only because of its very strong Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) aspect, but also because of its knowledge and involvement in the region where it originated. We believe in his determination to bring this project to life in a challenging market, thanks to our expertise and training,” he said. Phanes Group will provide the winner with technical and commercial support and will work with him to seek funds to complete the financing of the project. In concrete terms, the support phase will begin with an intensive seminar in which the winner will take part in Dubai. He will attend working sessions with experts from the Phanes Group to acquire all the necessary knowledge to set up his solar farm.
Electricity remains unevenly distributed throughout Senegal: 45% of the population has no access to electricity. The Senegalese government has turned to solar energy in recent years to solve this problem. Moreover, these efforts have made it possible to increase the installed electrical capacity from 660 MW in 2010 to 1000 MW in 2017. And Senegal expects to reach 1260 MW by 2019. This result will allow the national electricity company of Senegal (Senelec) to continue exporting its surplus to Mali and other neighbouring countries.
Luchelle Feukeng