The NAMA-funded project, through the NAMA facility, will provide 10.5 kilowatts of renewable energy to The Gambia once completed.
The project by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), The National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC), Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources (MECCNAR), Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, and The Gambia is officially undergoing implementation.
Additionally, the project to provide renewable energy to The Gambia will help the country to achieve its present plans for carbon reduction. The Gambia and UNCDF, according to the UNDP, successfully concluded the tendering processes to select a suitable private sector operator.
Overview of the project to provide renewable energy to The Gambia
The identified private sector operator, Independent Power Producer (IPP), will construct and manage the two solar plants for the project. NAWEC, however, will have a contract to receive the solar energy provided.
“The project to provide renewable energy to The Gambia will not only supply Basse and Farafenni with sustainable electricity. It will also replace the electricity produced by heavy fuel oil with solar energy. Smaller green energy projects have also received support from UNDP, such as the installation of home solar systems in 15 off-the-grid homes in Chamen Ballangar. A little town received electricity for the first time thanks to this project.” UNDP detailed in its latest Gambia country report.
It was claimed that with this intervention, beneficiaries will no longer have to travel long distances to access electricity services.
UNDP retailed, “The Mbolo Association taught a group of young women in solar installation with assistance from UNDP. These young women later installed a 65 kilowatt-per-hour solar production system for the Medical Research Council (MRC). The installation is anticipated to cut the hospital’s carbon emissions by approximately 800,000 kg of CO2 annually, along with national efforts to mitigate climate change.”
