American Capital Energy & Infrastructure (ACEI) has said it will invest in a 152MW wind farm in Senegal
The firm announced this week that it will be contributing more than US$85mn to the US$343mn project at Taiba Ndiaye, 75km north of the capital, Dakar.
The industrial-scale wind power project will be the first of its kind to be constructed in Senegal and, when completed, it will be the largest in West Africa.
“This project makes a lot of sense for Senegal - both from an economic as well as an environmental standpoint,” said ACEI’s CEO and co-founder Paul Hanrahan. “Senegal’s impressive economic growth requires more electric generating capacity to be built as its electrification rate is well above average for the sub-Saharan region.”
Senegal hopes the plant, which will be constructed in three 50.8MW phases over three years, will help to improve energy security and ease the national dependence on high-cost oil-fired power generation.
“The Senegalese government has stated that it is committed to shifting from diesel-based power generation to lower-cost energy sources, such as wind power, to lower the cost of electricity, and has taken steps to further reform its electricity sector in a way that makes it an attractive place to invest,” Hanrahan continued.
Once completed, power from the facility will be sold to the national utility Senelec (Societe Nationale d'Electricite du Senegal), under a 20-year power purchase deal agreed in 2013.
