Image: aboodi vesakaran, Unsplash
The Gambian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MoPE) and the state-owned company Nawec have jointly launched an initiative tender for the construction of a 50 MW PV installation in Soma, south of the Gambia River.
The PV plant is part of a 150 MW solar project under development since 2019 and expected to be coupled with unspecified battery storage capacity.
Through the tender process, MoPE and NAWEC plan to select an independent power producer (IPP) based on a public-private partnership (PPP) approach. “The IPP will be responsible for the financing, construction and operation of the first phase solar farm of 50 MW with a battery energy storage system for 25 years,” the tender document said.
The project is expected to sell power to Nawec and is likely to be built on a 225-hectare site near a 225/30 kV substation in Soma. “According to preliminary estimates, the 150 MW Gambia Solar Park will be combined with between 100 and 150 MWh of battery capacity,” the Gambian government said in 2020.
Interested developers have until November 14 to submit their proposals.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, the country had an installed PV capacity of just 2 MW at the end of 2023. However, in March, the country commissioned a 23 MW solar power plant in Jambur, near the country’s west coast, adding cumulative solar power. The capacity has now reached at least 25 MW.
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