Will the Gambia be able to provide universal access to electricity?

The Gambia is poised to provide access to electricity for all its people. His Excellency, President Adama Barrow has stipulated that there is to be Universal Access by 2025. Given its unique geography, the country is fortunate in being able to achieve universal access almost exclusively through connections to the NAWEC grid.

Does the Gambia need more power generation capacity?

The Gambia’s power sector will soon need additional generation capacity to be able to cover the forecast demand. A gap between available capacity and peak demand is identified from 2022 with the expiration of the Karpower contract and by 2025 nearly 140 MW of new capacity will be needed.

Should the Gambia import electricity from Senegal or Cote d'Ivoire?

The most important conclusion from the generation planning is that the least cost option for The Gambia is to import electricity from Senegal and/or Cote d’Ivoire. This conclusion is robust in all scenarios considered.

Are biomass power plants suitable for the Gambia?

However, biomass candidate power plants were excluded from the analysis as they were considered by NAWEC inadequate technologies for The Gambia. The potential of wind capacity in The Gambia is estimated to be approximately 197 MW with a capacity factor below 20% and 5 MW with a capacity factor higher than 30%10.

Does the Gambia have solar energy resources?

The Gambia has significant solar energy resources which can be deployed via solar PV plants, which have become price competitive with thermal plants and attractive for advancing national renewable energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets. IRENA (2018) has estimated national solar potential at 428 MW.