Senegal is a West African country with a land area of almost 197,000 km2 and has an estimated population of about 15 million. Dakar is the capital city and French is the official language.
The main industries of Senegal include food processing, mining, cement, artificial fertilizer, chemicals, textiles, refining imported petroleum and tourism. Exports include fish, chemicals, cotton, fabrics, groundnuts, and calcium phosphate. Senegal is a major recipient of international development assistance. Donors include the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Japan, France and China. Senegal is part of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Senegal uses more than 35% of its foreign exchange earnings for oil imports, making it highly vulnerable to oil price fluctuations. Access to electricity was 61.7% in 2017. In 2008, Senegal decided to promote the use of other energy sources and has restructured the country’s national energy policy by considering the development of renewable energy as a major focus area. All fossil fuels consumed in the country are imported – in particular the oil products that are used for transport and electricity generation.
Senegal has an average solar insolation of 5.43 kWh/m²/day. The annual theoretical production from photovoltaic systems, standardized per kW peak is estimated as 1,650kWh/kWp/year. There is also significant wind energy potential along Senegal’s coast between Dakar and Saint Louis with an average speed estimated around 4 m/s at 10 meters height. The total potential for large hydro power in Senegal is estimated to be approximately 1,400 MW on the Senegal and Gambia Rivers. Solid biomass (agricultural and agribusiness by-products) and liquid biofuels also have potential in parts of the country.
As of 2018, Senegal had four power stations and others are in the process of being developed. As part of World Bank’s Scaling Solar programme, the government is developing 60 MW of solar power. The aim of the Scaling Solar programme is not only to encourage private companies to invest in solar energy to supply energy to the national electricity grid of the country concerned, but also to ensure the rapid execution of electricity projects, in particular through public-private partnerships. Under this programme, the French energy company, Engie, signed a 25-year power purchase contract with the Senegalese National Electricity Corporation in 2018 to purchase electricity from two solar power stations with a combined capacity of 60 MW. The solar power stations will be located in Kahone, in the Kaolack region, and in Kaël, in the Touba region, both located in western Senegal.