DNV assists Lekela Energie Stockage in Senegal's first utility-scale wind energy project starting in 2022
DNV is proud to announce its selection as contractor to perform a feasibility study for the Senegal Battery Storage for Grid Resiliency Project, a project funded through a grant provided by the U.S. Trade and Development Association (USTDA). The project involves providing owner’s engineering support to a subsidiary of Lekela, one of Actis’ platform companies, a leading energy investor in growth markets across Africa, Asia, and Latin America and a long-time customer of DNV.
At an anticipated size of 40 MW, which will provide 175 MWh of energy, the battery energy storage system (BESS) will be one of the largest of its kind in the West African region. The battery will be co-located at Lekela's Parc Eolien Taiba N'Diaye (PETN) project, which was also developed by Lekela with DNV’s support. The wind farm has a total capacity of 158.7 MW and is located approximately 70 km northeast of Dakar. It will come fully online in 2021. The project is Senegal’s first utility-scale wind energy project and is part of the Senegalese government’s efforts to make its energy supply both more diverse and sustainable. When fully charged, the BESS will be able to discharge it’s fully rated 40 MW capacity for more than four hours.
The battery will help to stabilize the production of renewable energy, which will soon represent 25% of the total electricity generation capacity in Senegal. The BESS will help ensure that the power grid is able to utilize all of the available wind energy, as well as providing ancillary services such as frequency regulation, reactive power support, and energy charge and discharge. The battery will consist of approximately 45 40-foot (21 m) shipping containers and will be located adjacent to the wind farm. SENELEC, the national utility of Senegal, will dispatch the BESS once it comes online.
As part of this contract, DNV will assist Lekela in developing the technical specifications for the BESS to ensure a successful technical solution that will provide services on the grid for its useful life, which may exceed 20 years. Additionally, DNV will be involved in Lekela’s negotiation of the offtake agreement with SENELEC, which is the first such contract of its type for energy storage in Senegal. The project anticipates that construction of the BESS will begin in 2022.
DNV is proud to be a part of this project which aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal #7, which is part of the DNV’s global strategy. This goal works toward ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for everyone on the planet.