The infrastructure is the first in the country and will include up to 60 turbines, whose electricity will be integrated into the national and regional power grid.
This project marks an important step towards reducing energy poverty in West Africa, Savannah Energy, the promoter of the wind farm, said in a note seen Wednesday by APA, adding that the wind farm will increase the production capacity and access to electricity in the country. It will also serve as a model for other renewable energy rich countries seeking to diversify their energy mix.
“I am delighted to announce today our plans for the development of the Tarka Wind Farm. […] Such a project should stimulate a significant increase in economic activity across our country, directly and indirectly creating thousands of jobs over the next decade,” Niger’s Minister of Petroleum, Energy and Renewable Energies, Mahamane Sani Mahamadou.
Savannah Energy is, according to the note, a major energy player in Nigeria, Chad and Niger. It claims to have already made significant progress in promoting energy development in Africa.
In Nigeria, the British company is involved in the upstream sector, holding interests in two large-scale onshore oil and gas fields. It is also active in the midstream sector, with an 80 percent stake in the 200 million standard cubic feet per day Accugas processing facility and a 260 km pipeline network.
Through these projects, the company supplies gas to support more than 10 percent of the country’s thermal power generation. In addition, in Niger, Savannah Energy has licensed interests covering 13,655 square kilometers in the Agadem Rift Basin, approximately 50 percent of the country’s main oil basin.
To date, the company has made five discoveries from five wells in five oil fields. It is one of the heavyweights of West Africa and will be a valuable partner for Niger as the country strives to meet its renewable energy goals.
ARD/te/lb/abj/APA