30.03.2023

Photovoltaic plants inaugurated in the Kolda region in the south of Senegal

From 01 to 03 March, the commissioning of the photovoltaic plants including the complete grid distribution was celebrated in five villages of the ASER 300 project in the Kolda region of Senegal. Baba Diallo, the General Director of ASER (Agence Sénégalaise d'Électrification Rurale), travelled to the selected villages to celebrate the inauguration with the villagers.

In the project, more than 300 villages in Senegal are each getting a self-sufficient, decentralised solar power supply. In the Kolda region alone, more than 60 villages have now been completed, five of which were visited. These five villages are located in the administrative districts of Vélingara, Medina and Kolda, about a day's drive from the capital Dakar in the south of Senegal. Until now, these villages were without any electricity. Especially the sometimes very difficult accessibility of the connected communities illustrates how important the now functioning self-sufficient supply with electricity is.

In addition to the actual electrification, an important component of the project is, among other things, the supply of pumps for irrigation and machines for the treatment and processing of agricultural products. It means that solar energy not only brings new comfort, but also contributes to the promotion of the local economy.

The villagers celebrated this important milestone exuberantly and thanked the Senegalese authorities, ASER and especially the representatives of GAUFF Engineering, which planned and realised the project as general contractor for ASER.

The 60 plants in the villages of the Kolda region are in addition to the 44 plants that were already handed over and put into operation in the Kaffrine region. Furthermore, about 80 other plants are about to be inaugurated in the north of the country.

By the end of 2024, a total of more than 300 villages are going to be equipped with self-sufficient photovoltaic power supplies.