Renewable

July 5 (Renewables Now) - Solairedirect, a unit of French utility Engie SA (EPA:ENGI), has put on stream a 30-MW solar park in Senegal, news magazine Jeune Afrique said on Thursday.

The French company was in charge of building the plant in Santhiou Mekhe, in the western region of Thies region, and will also take care of its maintenance. The output of the facility will be sold to state-owned utility Senegal National Electric Co (SENELEC) and fed into the national grid under a 25-year power purchase agreement.

The Senergy project was developed for a total cost of about USD 47 million (EUR 41.4m), financed by French investment group Meridiam, Proparco, a subsidiary of French development agency Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD), and Senegal’s sovereign fund.

Engie is also involved in other solar projects in Senegal. At the start of 2017 it entered a renewable energy partnership with the National Renewable Energies Agency in Senegal, also known as ANER, to study the initial deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and solar water-heaters in the city of Dakar and its suburbs.

Senegal aims to supply 20% of its power needs from renewable energy sources by end-2017.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.880)