First Senegal Coal fired power plant to be examined

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved, on April 20, eligibility assessment for compliance review of the 125MW Sendou station construction project in Bargny Minam village.

Expected to be located 32km away from Dakar, Senegal’s capital city, the €206M Sendou coal fired power plant project is to be investigated by Independent Review Mechanism experts in order to clarify eight issues raised by complainants.

The adversely affected members of Bargny’s communities highlight air pollution health risks due to plant’s emissions and absence of Resettlement Action Plan to mitigate the project’s negative social impacts among others.

The AfDB that co-finances the project with the Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD) and the Dutsh Bank, Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V (FMO); has authorized investigations to be carry out.

The Sendou plant is foreseen to generate at least 925GWh of electricity annually when operational by the end of 2017.

The project comprises development, design, procurement, construction, operation and maintenance of the plant. A 1.6km 225kV transmission line and associated switchyard to connect the plant to SENELEC, Senegal’s public electricity company, are also to be built.