Vinci, a global player in concessions and construction sector, said one of its units, Vinci Energies has won a major contract from the Senegalese government to install five new extra-high-voltage (EHV) transformer stations, nearly 200 km of overhead and underground transmission lines, over 100 distribution substations in various parts of the country and a regional load dispatch centre across the country.

 

The project is part of Société d’Electricité du Sénégal's (Senelec) transmission and distribution grid expansion, reinforcement and reliability enhancement programme (the 2016-2020 Strategic Plan), said the statement from Vinci. 

 

The €197-million ($246 million) project will take 36 months to complete and involves the cities of Dakar, Diass, Diamniadio, Thiès, Kounoune, Tobène and Tambacounda.

 

The contract is fully financed by a banking pool made up of French and Senegalese lenders and is backed by the French authorities via a BPI Assurance Export guarantee and the Senegalese authorities via a Ministry of Economy, Finance and Planning guarantee, it stated.

 

The project will enhance the reliability of the Senegalese electricity grid. In Dakar, it will give the strategic city-centre neighbourhoods three new sources of supply. 

 

An extra high voltage transformer station will be built to secure the power supply in the new suburb of Diamniadio. A second transformer station will be installed in the city of Thiès to secure the electricity supply of several towns in the vicinity, said the statement. 

 

The new contract covers reinforcement of the distribution grids in Dakar, Tambacounda, Kounoune, Diamniadio and Thiès, it stated.

 

Access to electricity is a key economic and social development goal in Senegal, where Vinci Energies is increasingly expanding the business activity of its Senegalese subsidiary via transfer of expertise from its Moroccan and French subsidiaries. 

 

In 2017, the business unit was awarded the contract to build photovoltaic solar power plants with combined capacity of 17 MW. It is currently carrying out BoP electrical works at the 21 MW Kahone solar power plant, it added.-TradeArabia News Service