ENGIE and Meridian to develop two PV solar projects in Senegal worth 60MW

Senegal’s Electricity Sector Regulation Commission (CRSE) has selected the French utility, ENGIE, and its investment partner, Meridium, to develop two solar photovoltaic (PV) projects.

The tender for the projects, which have a combined capacity of 60MW, was launched in October 2017.

The projects are to be located in Kahone in Senegal’s Kaolack region, and Touba-Kaël, in the Diourbel region.

The PV projects are part of Senegal’s Scaling Solar initiative – conducted by the International Finance Corporation and the Senegalese authorities.

ENGIE and Meridiam are to hold a 40% stake in the PV projects, with the Senegalese sovereign fund, FONSIS, having a 20% stake.

The French firm will be responsible for the construction and operation of the energy plants.

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“Our consortium delivered a highly competitive offer by leveraging our experience of developing and operating renewable energy projects in Africa – in particular in Senegal,” stated Yoven Moorooven, CEO of ENGIE Africa.

“This success demonstrates the merit of our integrated model for solar whereby ENGIE is acting as investor, operator and EPC contractor through ENGIE Solar (formerly known as Solairedirect).”

“The CRSE and the IFC set out a clear, sound investment framework, which favored the presence of long-term investors like ENGIE.

“Our focus will now be on finalising the projects to deliver the most competitive solar photovoltaic plants, to serve the country’s ambition of developing universal electricity access in a sustainable manner. Congratulations to the teams on this achievement. “

“We continue to deploy our fund in Africa, choosing projects aimed at supporting sustainable economic development,” noted the COO of Meridiam Africa, Mathieu Peller.

“Thanks to the reduced costs of solar equipment, this particular project will have a high developmental impact by expanding Senegal's capacity to generate clean energy at a very competitive price.”

“Increasing power generation is critical for the Government's objective to raise Senegal to the level of an emerging market by 2035.”