The town of Kahone, located in the Kaolack region (center), hosts the largest photovoltaic plant in Senegal, a project that allows the generation of electricity for around 300,000 people at a low price and reduces CO2 emissions, within the framework of the efforts by the authorities to diversify the energy mix and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
The facilities began operations in May 2021along with others located in Kael (west), within the framework of a project financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Proparco – partly owned by the French Development Agency and private shareholders -, under the umbrella of the Scaling Solar program of the World Bank.
The plant, which has more than 129,000 photovoltaic modules installed on land that extends over around 36 hectares, it has an installed capacity of 43.9 MWp – which defines the maximum production in ideal conditions -, with works managed by Engie, Meridiam and the Sovereign Fund of Senegal to Strategic Investments (FONSIS).
Mamadou Yakham Diagne, in charge of technical affairs of the team that manages the plant, specifies in statements given to Europa Press that the plant’s annual production is estimated at 73.3 gigawatts/hourwhich represents 1.1 percent of the total production in Senegal, taking into account all avenues of electricity generation.
So, accounts for 8.3% of renewable energy installations in Senegal and 2.3% of the electricity production facilities in the country, according to Diagne, given the objective set by the Government of former President Macky Sall that renewables were 30 percent of the energy mix.
Electrical generation at the plant is sent through an underground network to a nearby facility. National Electricity Society of Senegal (Senelec)which, together with the fact that the facilities were built on public land, allows them to be sold at one of the lowest prices in West Africa.
The prices of electricity generated at the Kahone plant are around 25 Central African francs (less than four euro cents) per kilowatt/hour, as explained by representatives of the plant during a press visit to the facilities traveled to Senegal within the framework of a visit to the country by the European Commissioner for International Associations, Jutta Urpilainen.
The EIB itself highlights on its website that the launch of this plant – which is one hundred percent functional, according to these experts -, together with that of Kael, is part of the “objectives of the EU and Senegal” to achieve “a generation of renewable energy” that respects the lines established in climate matters and “increases the energy supply and its affordability” for the population.
Emissions reduction
In this sense, Diagne emphasizes that “in 2023, the plant made it possible to reduce the rate of greenhouse gas emissions by 24,727 tons of CO2”, a figure that collaborates in the Government’s efforts to reduce emissions in the sector, historically dependent on fuel imports and with a 80% of your energy mix based on oil.
The 129,060 photovoltaic modules installed were delivered by the Chinese company JinkoSolar and they are cleaned at regular intervals by a machine designed to maximize their absorption capacity against the contamination and dirt that may be deposited on them in order to ensure that they work at full capacity, although always depending on the weather conditions.
Thus, apart from the obvious impact of the absence of sun in rainy seasons or cloudy days, the experts present during the visit highlight that excessive heat or radiation are equally negative by causing the panels to not function correctly and the materials. semiconductors that make them up.
Regarding the recycling of broken panels -whether due to blows, accidents or malfunctions-, are stored in a container at the Kael plantafter which “they are sent by sea transport to France, in collaboration with the company Weeecycling” for these tasks, given the absence of possibilities for this at the national level.
However, Diagne maintains that panels that do not work correctly “but continue to produce energy” are the subject of work in search of “reuse solutions for professional training or domestic use in local communities”, which would allow “to guarantee a rigorous monitoring in order to recover them once their useful life ends and recycle them.
Local impact
Diagne also defends that the Kahone plant has generated a total of 33 direct jobs -of which only five have gone to women-, while another 290 jobs have been generated through contracts signed for operations, with only fourteen for women.
The construction of the plant, however, had an impact on part of the community that led to the delivery of aid packages to 36 of them due to their vulnerable situationincluding four who received food aid due to their nomadic lifestyle in order to support their capabilities during the lean season.
Likewise, five economic interest groups were formed to 120 women residing in the areawith financing of 16 million Central African francs (about 24,390 euros), and the financing of another five in the commune with funds worth seven million Central African francs (about 10,670 euros), including food for children in ‘daaras’ or Koranic schools.
Diagne adds that, on the other hand, an agropastoral farm for the 28 associations as part of the Livelihood Restoration Plan (PRMS) to reduce the negative impact of the removal of the plant on these lands, in which part of the community also participates, once a year, to help with clearing tasks.
Technical data
Kahone is the fourth photovoltaic plant connected to the Senegalese electrical grid and, together with Kael, provides clean energy to more than 500,000 people in the African country, according to the World Bank Scaling Solar programwhich specifies that the project had 38 million euros in international financing.
Scaling Solar also recalls that Senegal was the second country to put photovoltaic plants supported by the program into operation, after one in Zambia was inaugurated in 2019 and given the efforts to support similar plans in Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Togo, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.
World Bank data reflect that currently 70.4 percent of the population has access to electricity, a figure that has increased in recent years and is in line with the authorities’ intention to diversify sources of electricity. energy – in line with the Emerging Senegal Plan -, the reduction of energy coststhe increase in generation capacities and the increase in access in rural areas.
The country, which also supports regional energy cooperation as a member of the West African Energy Pool (WAPP) – the union of national electricity companies of this area of the continent under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) – and is a member of regional organizations for the development of hydroelectric resources, seeks with this type of projects “universal” access to electricity by 2025.
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