The government of Gambia has launched the Jambur Solar Power Plant project. President of the Republic of the Gambia, Adama Barrow laid the foundation to mark the start of works.
The project will be built under the Gambia Electricity Restoration and Modernisation Project (GERMP). This is a US$64M project which is jointly financed by the World Bank, European Investment Bank and the European Union. GERMP aims to improve electricity generation capacity and transmission system efficiency in order to increase access to electricity for socio-economic development.
READ:MIGA to issue guarantee for Baidoa Hybrid Solar Power Plant
Jambur Solar Power Plant
Chinese company TBEA who have been contracted to develop the project, will construct a 23 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant, which is estimated to be the country’s largest solar park. It will be used to reinforce the grid of the state-owned Gambia National Water and Electric Company (NAWEC).
The photovoltaic park will be installed in two phases on a 225-hectare site identified since 2019 by the Gambian authorities, in Soma, a town located in central Gambia, near the border with Senegal. This is a strategic site as it is located near a 225/30 kV substation of the Gambia River Basin Development Organization (OMVG). Part of the output of this regional solar power plant will be fed into the Gambia’s electricity grid through the West African Power Pool (WAPP).
“The project will promote the extension, reliability and quality of energy supply at the national level, as well as the diversification of energy sources to include renewable energies. Currently, solar accounts for only 2% of The Gambia’s electricity mix. This capacity is expected to increase with the construction of a 150 MWp regional solar park, the feasibility study for which was recently validated,” said TBEA.