By Femi Adeniyi Taylor
Lekela Power, the independent power producer (IPP), has selected DNV to carry out the feasibility study for its electricity storage project at the Taiba N’Diaye wind farm in Senegal.
DNV has six months to deliver on the study, as Lekela plans to start construction of the electricity storage system in 2022. The Taiba N’Diaye wind farm, which was also developed by Lekela, started feeding electricity into the Senelec grid in 2020. The facility consists of 46 wind turbines capable of delivering 158.7 MW of power. The wind farm contributes 15% of the electricity produced in Senegal.
Lekela is a joint venture between UK investment fund Actis and Mainstream Renewable Power. DNV, a Norwegian firm, will also provide risk management and insurance expertise, supported by a grant from the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). DNV will “help develop the technical specifications of the battery storage system to ensure a successful technical solution that will provide services to the grid during its operational life of up to 20 years”, Lekela says in a statement. DNV will also be involved in negotiating the power purchase agreement (PPA) for the storage system between the Senegalese national electricity company (Senelec) and Lekela. This will be the first PPA for storage in Senegal, and potentially in West Africa.
Pending the results of the study, Lekela plans to build a system capable of storing 40 MW of power. The batteries will be housed in 45 40-foot (21 m) shipping containers. These containers will be stored next to the wind farm. The storage system will provide 175 MWh of electricity, enough to stabilisethe national grid.
