In mid-2003 the Government of Senegal asked the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) for support in the development of a 10 MW wind farm. The proposed location is on the coast between Dakar and St. Louis. The generated electricity is to be fed into the grid belonging to the national public utility company SENELEC. The lead executing agency for the project is the Direction de l’Energie (DE), a specialist department within the Ministry of Energy (Ministère de l’Energie).

Since July 2007, wind measurements have been conducted at two sites, Kayar and Potou, and have been backed up by training on technical and economic issues surrounding the use of wind energy.

In December 2008 the results of the wind measurements, taken over the period of a year, were presented at a workshop in Dakar. The Potou site, with an average annual wind speed of 6.4 m/s at a height of 70 m, yielded notably better results than the Kayar site, where the annual average wind speed was 5.8 m/s.

Initial estimates indicate that the site-specific energy generation costs in Potou are around €0.08 per kWh. The costs in Kayar are approximately €0.1 per kWh. (The assumptions on which these results are based are explained in the studies available for download on this page.)

On the basis of these results, GTZ is planning to produce a feasibility study for the Potou site in collaboration with the Senegalese partner DE. The details of what this study is to contain are presently being worked out.

As soon as all the necessary information about the investigated sites is available, the partner will receive assistance in finding potential investors for the planned wind farm.

However, it is not only technical foundations for the development of wind energy that are currently being put in place in Senegal. The International Conference on Renewable Energy CIERA took place in Dakar from 16 to 18 April 2008. The political prerequisites for successful development of wind energy were also discussed at this three-day event.

Further information:

www.unido.org/index.php?id=5420