In The Gambia, the construction of a solar power plant is taking shape. The National Electricity and Water Company, NAWEC, has announced the construction of a 23 MW photovoltaic solar power plant in Jambur, on the west coast of the country, starting on 4 February.
Co-financed by the World Bank and the European Investment Bank (EIB), the project is part of the Gambia Electricity Restoration and Modernisation Program (GERMP).
Thus, this plant will improve NAWEC’s power generation capacity and the efficiency of its transmission system. This will increase access to electricity for socio-economic development in the country.
In 2020, The Gambia had an electricity access rate of 62.3% for a population estimated by the World Bank to be 2.4 million. And in 2019, the Gambian authorities were considering the installation of a battery storage system with a capacity of between 100 and 150 MWh, to compensate for the intermittency associated with the production of solar photovoltaic energy.