Renewable energy experts claim Senegal’s nuclear plans for power plants are too ambitious and could hinder the growth of solar energy in the country.
afrol News reported that Spanish company Prosolia has analyzed various cost efficient alternatives reporting that conditions in Senegal are close to perfect for the cost-effective large-scale development of solar energy. With prices for photovoltaic technologies steadily improving and becoming cheaper, solar energy by now is among the most competitive alternatives in Senegal.
Prosolia said that the cost of solar was cheaper and faster than constructing new nuclear power plants. With a life expectancy of about 30 years for the solar panels and Senegal‘s many hours of peak sun, Prosolia calculates that the production price of solar energy in the country would be at €0.055 per kWh.
According to Prosolia’s Sergi Belda, such a production price would mean a price of €0.08 per kWh for Senegalese consumers, including "an acceptable commercial margin" for electricity companies. Solar energy thus is competitive on the Senegalese market, Belda told afrol News.
José Luis Martínez Rivero of Prosolia’s Dakar office has just concluded a year-long thorough market study of the Senegalese energy market. "Prosolia Senegal can confirm that it is cheaper to generate electric energy from photovoltaic solar energy than from diesel and other systems currently applied in Senegal, including the extravagant nuclear initiatives," Martínez concludes.
"Senegal, like other countries, quickly needs to generate more electricity to address its necessary economic growth," Martínez emphasized. Prosolia claims its analysis shows solar energy is the most viable way. "There now are no more excuses to use renewable, especially solar, energy in Africa to generate electricity," Martínez said.
And while building nuclear power plants is costly, Senegal should not totally discredit its nuclear ambitions if it is feasible. Private investors can shore up the solar industry in the meantime and the government could focus its efforts gradually geared to diversifying its energy mix to include all forms of renewable and alternative energy.
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