The
National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) and Sinohydro Corporation, a
Chinese company, on Friday signed a US$165 million project at a hotel in
Kololi.
The
project is aimed at providing a new HFO Power Plan with a capacity of more than
60MW as a medium intervention in order to provide adequate and stable power
supply in the Greater Banjul Area.
It
also seeks to lay the foundation for regional interconnection using OMVG energy
project and the West African Power Pool.
NAWEC
Managing Director Baba Fatajo said the project is as a result of the bilateral
cooperation between China and The Gambia.
“Following
critical needs assessment of priority intervention areas of the economy, the
government of China through the government of The Gambia accepted to intervene
in the energy subsector by developing a 62MW project in terms of additional
generating capacity,” he said.
Mr
Fatajo said the project would also include refurbishment and expansion of the
electricity transmission and distribution network.
“This
project, when realised, will be a whole game changer in the power supply
situation of this country,” he said.
“Its
scope of intervention is not only unprecedented but will go a long way in
modernising our entire electricity generation and network as we could operate
on more efficient generator sets as well as significantly reduce our technical
losses, which continue to be a major challenge for NAWEC.”
The
minister of Energy and Petroleum, Fafa Sanyang, said if the project is
successfully implemented, it would have wide ranging effects on the economy,
including increased access to electricity, stable and affordable power supply
which would also lead to the establishment of more industries and businesses,
employment creation and poverty alleviation.
The
vice president of Sinohydro for West and Central Africa, Lui Xiaomin, said the
company is a Chinese state corporation and it is ranked number 1 in the fields
of hydroelectricity, thermal energy, and renewable energies.
The
Chinese company has expertise in the design, construction, operation and
maintenance of energy generation and transmission facilities.
“The
signing ceremony was finalised after series of consultations on both technical
and financial proposals bearing in mind NAWEC’s identified needs,” she said.
According
to Mrs Xiaomin, the technical component of the project that was finalised
includes generation component of heavy duty fuel oil power plant, transmission
and distribution lines and high and medium voltage substations.
The
proposed plant, transmission and distribution facilities would be integrated
with the existing power supply systems to provide an overall automated system.
