Senegal's energy sector reformation

Official Name: Republic of Senegal.

Summary: Senegal faces energy problems in developing the ability to provide sustainable, affordable, and stable power infrastructure. Reforms of the energy sector are ongoing, and the government is engaged in exploring alternate energy sources such as solar and wind energy.

A former French colony, the African nation of Senegal had a real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of $4,400 as of 2023. According to 2011 estimates, nearly half (46.7 percent) of the population lives below the poverty line, and, in 2023, the unemployment rate was 2.93 percent. There are vast differences in the quality of life in urban and rural areas, and basic amenities such as access to electricity are out of reach for many rural Senegalese. For example, in 2022, 96.6 percent of people in urban areas had access to electricity, but only 43.4 percent of those in rural areas did.

Prior to the 1980s, all energy produced domestically was derived from thermal plants. After hydroelectric plants were erected along the Senegal River as part of a regional electrification project, electricity became cheaper and more accessible. At the end of the twentieth century, only 250 of Senegal’s 13,000 villages were electrified, and three-fourths of the villagers within the electrified villages were not connected to the grid. By the early twenty-first century, three-fourths of the overall population continued to lack access to electricity. That percentage rose in urban areas but dropped drastically in isolated rural villages. Even in electrified urban areas, access continues to be unstable during the rainy season, when the demand for air-conditioning is at its peak, and whenever there is a problem with imports or a lack of storage space. Traditionally, all crude oil has had to be imported, and in 2022, the Senegalese consumed 55,000 barrels per day. Senegal now has the expectation of producing some oil because of the discovery of petroleum deposits off the Casamance Coast. Senegal does produce some natural gas; in 2022, the country produced more than 54 million cubic meters and consumed about the same amount.

Electricity

Electric bills increased fivefold in Senegal between 2005 and 2008, and power outages often became a daily occurrence. In 2008 and again in 2010, many Senegalese took to the streets in outrage. The government responded with promises to upgrade capacity and enact energy-sector reforms. Officials also pledged to step up research and development efforts in the field of alternative energy sources. The use of charcoal and wood stripped from forests has led to high rates of deforestation, desertification, and soil erosion that have a negative impact on the environment and threaten the survival of the agricultural sector. By 2022, Senegal had a total installed electricity-generating capacity of 1,668 million kilowatts, with consumer costs averaging around 24 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Senegal has developed a reputation for promoting stability and cooperation among African states, and President Abdoulaye Wade was a motivating force behind the creation of the Pan-African Non-Petroleum Producers Association, which aspires to be a green alternative to the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Foreign investment has proved to be an important element in revising Senegal’s energy sector. In April 2010, the Chinese government announced plans to build a 50-megawatt electric plant and a 300-megawatt solar plant in Senegal. As of 2024, Senegal had a total of twelve operating power plants, including the Taiba N'Diaye Wind Power Station built in 2020.

Reforms and Innovation

Senegal had an electricity consumption per capita rate of 0.337 megawatt hours in 2021. It neither imports nor exports electricity. The Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Industry is responsible for policy implementation and oversight of the electricity sector. In 1998, Senegal received $100 million (US) in equivalent credits from the International Development Association to fund the Senegal Energy Sector Adjustment Program. Legislators passed a series of new laws related to the project. As a result, Senegal liberalized the distribution and sale of electricity and privatized and restructured the Société National d’Éléctricité du Sénégal (SENELEC), which had historically been the only source of electricity in Senegal. An autonomous regulatory commission was established to manage such activities as licensing. Reforms also included the establishment of the Senegalese Agency for Rural Electrification, which was charged with working with electric companies and the public to expand access to electricity and chart progress toward electrification. The Center for Renewable Energy Research and Study at the National College of Polytechnics was given the responsibility for developing alternative sources of energy, and the government announced plans to fund five solar energy projects. Another important reform was the 2014 Emerging Senegal Plan, a strategy for accelerating sustainable development and economic growth. Thanks in part to this strategic policy, Senegal successfully shifted to producing more electricity from renewable sources than from coal by 2022.

Decentralization has been a major element in these reforms, and local governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have played a major role in their implementation. Collectives such as ONG-FONG, which is made up of various NGOs, have also been involved in this process. The Senegalese are now able to purchase electricity from private suppliers such as Industries Chimiques du Sénégal (ICS), Compagnie Sucrière du Sénégal (CSS), and the Société Nationale de Commercialisation des Oléagineux du Sénégal (SONACOS).

Environmental Efforts

Beginning in 1997 and continuing through 2004, Senegal participated in the Sustainable and Participatory Energy Management Project. The purpose of this World Bank project was to mitigate the impact of poverty on Senegal’s energy sector and improve the quality of life for Senegalese living in rural areas. A good deal of those efforts involved the promotion of sustainable development in the Tambacounda and Kolda regions, which had been heavily dependent on depleting forests and burning charcoal to produce energy. Nikolo-Koba National Park was established as an environmentally protected zone. Special attention was given to working with women and children, who had disproportionately suffered from the impact of poverty. The women of Tambacounda and Kolda were taught more environmentally friendly methods of survival.

Progress is also being made in the area of harnessing wind energy. In 2003, the government requested help from Germany in developing a 10-megawatt wind farm on the Senegalese coast between Dakar and St. Louis. Power generated from the facility feeds into SENELEC’s existing grid. The Taiba N'Diaye Wind Power Station, completed in 2020, is West Africa's largest wind power station in terms of generation capacity.

Bibliography

Gellar, Sheldon. Senegal: An African Nation Between Islam and the West. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995.

“Senegal.” CIA World Factbook, 31 July 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/senegal. Accessed 6 Aug. 2024.

“Senegal.” International Energy Agency, 2024, www.iea.org/countries/senegal. Accessed 6 Aug. 2024.