The 300 MW Cap des Biches combined cycle gas power plant, Senegal’s first and largest, will go online by the end of the year as 2.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas are expected to start flowing from the country’s reserves in 2023, according to the West African energy business West African Energy. The facility has been under construction since March 2021, when Senegal’s Minister of Petroleum and Energies, H.E. Aissatou Sophie Gladima, ceremonially laid the foundation stone. The facility was financed to the tune of $348.9 million by the African Finance Corporation, Burkina Faso’s Coris Bank International, and other financial institutions.
After Senegal’s Gas Code was finalized in 2020, the country, led by H.E. President Macky Sall, saw a rise in national gas exploration and extraction operations as well as gas-to-power projects. These include the 130 MW Malicounda Melec power plant, which debuted earlier this year, the 15 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas that will be explored at Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA), and the 20 tcf at Yakaar-Teranga. Additionally, the new Cap des Biches facility will operate alongside an existing 86 MW flex cycle power plant in the Rufisque commune, 20 kilometres from Dakar, providing Senegal with the least expensive thermal generation in the country. The $132 million flex cycle power plant was completed after 14 months of construction in April 2016.
Domestic gas from 2023 in Senegal is expected to price at $5 to $6 per million British thermal units (MBTU) in comparison to $14 for heavy fuel oils which currently constitute up to 60% of the nation’s 1.3 GW installed power generation capacity (under 6% being gas and 13% coal). Domestic gas, therefore, holds good potential as a means to halve electricity prices for the nation, with the new 300 MW facility considered a firm step towards this.
Joining West African Energy in the venture is the American General Electric Company which was awarded a contract for the manufacture and supply of turbines and generators along with auxiliary equipment in January last year, including two 9E.03 gas turbines, one STF-A200 steam turbine, three A39 generators and two Heat Recovery Stream Generators. Turkish firm, Calik Enerji has also been awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract as of September 2020, having priorly completed turnkey power project development works across the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and the Balkans. Meanwhile, French firm Bureau Veritas has been enlisted for technical contract work to assess structural integrity and safety.
