Senegalese National Electricity Company (SENELEC) has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Infinity Power. The contract covers the installation of an electricity storage system for the Taïba N'Diaye wind farm in the Thiès region of western Senegal.
In Senegal, the project to build an electricity storage system for the Taïba N’Diaye wind farm is taking shape. The project’s developer, Infinity Power, which continues to operate the wind farm after taking over Lekela Power, has just signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Senegal’s national electricity company (SENELEC).
The 20-year capacity change agreement paves the way for the construction of the storage system at the Tobène substation in the Thiès region. The system will be capable of storing 40 MW of electricity, which will “enable the electricity grid to harness all available wind energy and provide ancillary services such as frequency regulation, reactive power support, and energy charging and discharging”, says Infinity Power.
Read also- SENEGAL: BOAD lends €22 million for the 30 MWp Niakhar solar power plant
The storage batteries, with a combined capacity of 175 MWh, will be housed in 45 40-foot (21m) shipping containers. According to Infinity Power, installation of the system will begin in 2024 at the Tobène substation, with commissioning scheduled for 2025. According to Infinity, the storage system will reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by around 37,000 tonnes a year.
The Taïba N’Diaye wind farm consists of 46 turbines supplied and installed by Danish company Vestas Wind Systems. The facility has a capacity of 158.7 MW, making it the largest wind farm in West Africa. This capacity represents 15% of Senegal’s installed electricity capacity of 1,555 MW, according to Power Africa. The wind farm feeds its output into the SENELEC grid. The park is capable of supplying power to 2 million people in Senegal, while avoiding emissions of 300,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.
Jean Marie Takouleu
