The government of Senegal through Senegalese firm Energy Resources Senegal (ERS) SA has signed an agreement with Climate Fund Managers (CFM) to jointly develop a solar-plus-storage power plant in Niakhar, an arrondissement of the Fatick Department in the Fatick Region of Senegal.
The solar-plus-storage power plant in Niakhar project will comprise the construction of a 30-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) farm and a 15-MW/45-MWh battery storage system. This combination is set to become the West Africa Country’s first-ever hybrid solar power plant of its size with a significant storage system.
The mandate of ERS and CFM as per the agreement
Energy Resources Senegal SA is a public limited company incorporated in 2013 under Senegalese law with the objective of developing and operating a photovoltaic solar power plant in Senegal. Under the newly signed agreement, the company is given the mandate to promote the Niakhar project.
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On the other hand, Climate Fund Managers (CFM) which is an investment manager contributing towards mitigating and building resilience to climate change in areas most affected through the provision of financing solutions for infrastructure developers, will develop, build, own and operate the future power plant. It will also act as the environmental and social (E&S) and technical advisor throughout the development process.
ERS ambitions
Speaking on the agreement Sebastian Surie, CFM’s regional head for Africa said that they are excited to partner with ERS to deliver a first of its kind renewable solution to the Senegalese energy market.
“The ERS team has an ambitious pipeline of projects that strongly align with Climate Investor One’s key objectives. This initial project (the solar-plus-storage power plant) with ERS will serve clean power to at least 150,000 people,” revealed the CFM’s regional head for Africa, adding that ERS has a target to deliver 500 MW of diverse types of energy projects within the next five years.
