A man stands in front of a rurally located solar plant.

Expanding renewable energies in Senegal

Programme for sustainable energy (P.E.D. II)

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  • Commissioning Party

    German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

  • Country
  • Lead executing agency

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  • Overall term

    2022 to 2025

  • Products and expertise

    Sustainable infrastructure: water, energy, transport

A group of men and women gather around a solar dryer in a village.

Context

Senegal aims to supply its entire population with electricity by 2025 and become less dependent on energy imports. Given the global climate crisis, it is important to meet the growing demand for energy with low-emission sources. At the same time, the country faces major challenges: in 2022, only around half of rural households had access to electricity. Electricity prices are also high and electricity is often used inefficiently.

Objective

The Senegalese Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MPE) is implementing reforms to promote sustainable and climate-friendly energy.

Aerial view of a solar plant that provides electricity for a mill and a husking machine for cereals in rural regions.

Approach

The project advises MPE on realigning its energy policy and planning and implementing a national energy strategy in the long term in order to improve economic efficiency, the quality of supply and access to electricity while promoting climate protection. It also advises the ministry on laws and regulations and on promising technologies to promote the development of renewable energy. For example, the government has already made 22 materials for solar, wind and biogas plants exempt from VAT. Another priority of the programme is to use decentralised solutions to ensure access to electricity for rural households.

In the first phase, the project set up pilot projects in cooperation with public and private sector energy officers to use renewable energy effectively. In addition, it funded and supported pilot projects in rural and suburban areas. For example, a textile factory, a flour mill and a water treatment plant have been supplied with solar energy. The project is now gathering technical, economic and social findings from the pilot projects to support local actors in implementing promising solutions. In the second phase, it is supporting pilot projects for energy efficiency and renewable energy sources that are connected to the power grid.

Two women work behind a solar-powered flour mill.

Last update: October 2023

Additional information