The Gambia smarts grids

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.

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.

What is a critical path to achieving universal electrification in the Gambia?

Critical path items are as follows: institutional strengthening, particularly NAWEC’s 2019-25 Strategic Development Plan. Within the African continent, achieving universal electrification by 2025 will be a significant achievement in which The Gambia will be able to be justifiably proud.

How much power does the Gambia have?

As described in the previous section, transmission linkages will create a unified national network by 2022-23. As of mid 2021, the total net installed capacity in The Gambia is 154.5 MW of reciprocating engines, but only 97.0 MW are currently available for power generation.

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.

What is the potential of wind capacity in 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. Generic wind farms were included in the least cost planning analysis and were modelled in blocks of 3.6 MW.