The United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), an independent body of the US government, has reportedly issued a grant of just under USD 1 million to support feasibility studies for large-scale battery storage schemes in Senegal and Mozambique.
Notably, these large-scale battery storage projects have been grouped with wind energy in Mozambique in Southeast Africa as well as Senegal in West Africa.
A nearly $1 million grant had been extended by the USTDA in 2020 for the Battery Storage for Grid Resiliency scheme in Senegal, reports claim. The grant was evidently paid to Lekela Energie Stockage, a special purpose vehicle subsidiary established and owned by the Dutch renewable project developer Lekela Power.
Europe-based Lekela Power, which has been working on Africa-centric projects, reportedly operates three wind projects in South Africa, along with one of the largest wind parks in Senegal, the 158.7MW unit Parc Eolien Taiba N’Diaye.
Reportedly, the proposed battery energy storage system would be co-located at the wind project. Moreover, for this project, the European energy company has apparently opted for internationally recognized and professional services giant, DNV, as a contractor to offer owner’s engineering support for the project.
DNV claimed that the first utility-scale wind park in Senegal, the Taiba N’Diaye scheme, is slated to go completely online in the year 2021.
The BESS solution supposedly has a projected size of 40 MW and 175 MWh capacity, which is intended to help make wind power output dispatchable for more than four hours. The energy generated will be dispatched by SENELEC, a national utility firm.
DNV has also offered to help Lekela Power introduce suitable technological specifications for the BESS and assist in formulating the plan, along with utility, in a project scheduled to commence in 2022, claim reliable sources.
Apparently, the battery storage aspect of the project has been devised to showcase its technological viability in balancing the local grid as well as its suitability for use in other projects across the region.
Source Credit: https://www.esi-africa.com/industry-sectors/future-energy/ustda-grant-to-fund-feasibility-studies-for-mozambique-and-senegal/