- Construction of the Gouina hydroelectric power plant will be completed in September.
- Part of the work is expected to be delivered in June
- The plant’s installed capacity is 140MW and when completed would increase the energy generation by 52 per cent.
The Senegalese Minister of Water and Sanitation, Serigne Mbaye Thiam has confirmed that the construction of the Gouina hydroelectric power plant will be completed this year following a visit to the site. The hydropower plant is a run-of-the-river-type hydroelectric facility that is currently being constructed on Gouina Falls along the Senegal River in Mali.
Read also: Country Profile – Mali
Minister Thiam was accompanied by his colleague Aïssatou Sophie Gladima, Minister in charge of Petroleum and Energy, and Lamine Seydou Traoré, Malian Minister of Mines, Energy and ‘Water as well as Hamed Diane Séméga, the high commissioner of the Senegal River Basin Development Organization (OMVS), a regional cooperative management body of the Senegal River that currently includes the Republics of Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal.
Part of the work is expected to be delivered in June with the entire plants set to be commissioned in September. The delivery had been delayed from May due to challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The construction work was launched on17 December 2013. This is the fourth plant set to be implemented by the OMVS since its inception in1972.
The plant’s installed capacity is 140MW and comprise three 46.6 MW Kaplan turbine generators. A 280km transmission line will be constructed to evacuate power from the power plant. The power plants when completed would increase the energy generation of the four OMVS countries by 52 per cent.