Plans are underway to install several small solar power plants with a total production capacity of 2MW in Senegal as part of a project launched by National Electricity Company of Senegal (Senelec), the public company that distributes electricity in Senegal.

The mini hybrid power plants will be fitted with batteries that can store up to 2 MWh of power with the storage systems composed of lithium-ion batteries being installed in containers. German company Dhybrid was selected to develop the project.

Mini solar power plants

The plants will also have the ability to operate with diesel generators for the purpose of providing an alternative to sunlight. Hybrid solar park Close to 140,000 people in remote areas of the Thiès region in western Senegal, Tambakounda and Kolda in the east and the Saloum Islands will greatly benefit from this project by accessing electricity generated by the hybrid solar park.

In addition to providing electricity in rural areas that have not yet been electrified, Senegalese authorities maintain that the solar power plants will avoid 19,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, the equivalent of a car that covers 135 million km.

The power plants will also help villagers who have all along been charging their mobile phones using generators. Dhybrid’s mini solar power plants will operate using an automated solar power plant management system called “Scada”.

Using computer installed software, the German company will remotely control the interaction between diesel generators, inverters installed on solar panels and the electricity storage system with the aim of minimizing electricity costs and CO2 emissions.