Gambia's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MoPE) and state-owned utility Nawec have jointly launched a tender for the construction of a 50 MW PV plant in Soma, south of the River Gambia.
The PV facility is part of a 150 MW solar project under development since 2019 which is planned to be linked to an unspecified battery storage capacity.
Through the procurement exercise, the MoPE and NAWEC intend to select an independent power producer (IPP) under a public-private partnerships (PPP) approach. “The IPP will be responsible for the financing, construction and operation of the solar power park in the first phase of 50 MW with a battery energy storage system for 25 years,” the tender document reads.
The project is expected to sell power to Nawec and is likely to be built on a 225-hectare site near a 225/30 kV substation in Soma. “According to preliminary estimates, the 150 MW Gambia Solar Park will be combined with between 100 and 150 MWh of battery capacity,” the Gambian government said in 2020.
Interested developers will have until November 14 to submit their proposals.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, the country had an installed PV capacity of only 2 MW at the end of 2023. In March, however, it commissioned a 23 MW solar plant in Jambur, near the country's west coast, which means cumulative solar power has now reached at least 25 MW.
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