Nature and Biodiversity

Senegal’s new wind farm will provide clean energy to 2 million

senegal environment renewable solar energy change transition friendly environment carbon footprint carbon emissions reduction change natural climate change global warming air pollution clean energy power renewables plastic plastics

With the wind farm, 30% of all energy used in Senegal will be from renewable sources. Image: Unsplash/ZHANG FENGSHENG

Nellie Peyton
Journalist, Reuters Foundation

Senegal inaugurated the first large-scale wind farm in West Africa on Monday, a facility that will supply nearly a sixth of the country's power when it reaches full capacity later this year.

With the wind farm, Senegal will get 30% of its energy from renewable sources, which has been a goal of President Macky Sall.

Have you read?

"The energy mix we have today allows us to move past our dependence on petrol," said Papa Mademba Biteye, director-general of Senelec, the national electricity company, at an inauguration ceremony in the rural community of Taiba N'Diaye.

The 158 megawatt wind farm was built by British renewable power company Lekela, which also has wind farms in South Africa and Egypt and an upcoming one in Ghana.

Wind farms remain scarce throughout sub-Saharan Africa compared with solar plants, partly because they can cost more and take longer to build and because strong wind is generally less plentiful than sunshine, said Silvia Macri, an energy analyst at IHS Markit.

"Senegal pushed ahead its renewables agenda quite aggressively," Macri told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Senegal's first solar plant came online three years ago, and the country has since built several more. Other countries in the region are following suit with solar but are much further behind in terms of wind, Macri said.

In Taiba N'Diaye, 46 giant wind turbines rise over scrubland about 90 km (56 miles) from the seaside capital. One-third are operating, and the rest are due to come online by June.

Senegalese president Macky Sall visits a wind turbine in the rural community of Taiba N'Diaye, Senegal senegal environment renewable solar energy change transition friendly environment carbon footprint carbon emissions reduction change natural climate change global warming air pollution clean energy power renewables plastic plastics
Senegal's president Macky Sall visiting a wind turbine. Image: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Nellie Peyton

Outside the cities, much of Senegal is still not electrified. Electricity reached only about 60% of the 16 million population in 2017, according to the World Bank.

The wind farm will provide enough electricity for 2 million people and prevent the emission of 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, according to Senelec.

"The next challenge is universal access," said Biteye.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Future of the Environment

Related topics:
Nature and BiodiversityEnergy TransitionGeographies in Depth
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Future of the Environment is affecting economies, industries and global issues
World Economic Forum logo

Forum Stories newsletter

Bringing you weekly curated insights and analysis on the global issues that matter.

Subscribe today

How greenways can boost nature-positive living by shaping urban mobility

Federico Cartín Arteaga and Heather Thompson

December 20, 2024

2:29

5 top nature stories of 2024

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum