Considered to be the largest wind farm planned in West Africa, the €305m project is being developed in three phases of 50.8MW over three years, and is expected to reduce the country’s dependency on oil-fired power generation.
ACEI will work with the project developer Sarreole for funding development costs and project equity, which will alsoinclude financing from senior and mezzanine lenders.
The project is in line with the Senegal Government’s efforts to diversify its energy mix as well as increase the use of renewable energy to meet the energy demand.
ACEI CEO and co-founder Paul Hanrahan said: "The Senegalese Government has stated that it is committed to shifting from diesel-based power generation to lower-cost energy sources, such as wind power, to lower the cost of electricity, and has taken steps to further reform its electricity sector in a way that makes it an attractive place to invest."
Societe Nationale d’Electricite du Senegal (Senelec), the national utility company of Senegal, will purchase the power generated from the facility under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
ACEI Africa investments director Lisa Pinsley said: "ACEI is a founding partner of Power Africa, a United States Government initiative launched by President Obama that is focused on supporting economic growth and development in Africa by increasing clean and reliable access to electrical power.
"Through the Power Africa initiative, we look forward to partnering with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation as lead lender and leveraging the diverse toolkit of the Power Africa initiative to support the Project, the utility and the Senegalese economy."
