Nawec justifies request to  buy emergency power from Senegal

The National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) has come out with a statement over the weekend explaining why it is soliciting financial support to engage Senelec to purchase power from Senegal.

Details of the planned purchasing from Senelec contained in a letter was leaked online early this week.

According to the letter, the estimated total cost of this proposed arrangement with Senelec is D661.8 million.

‎In its explanations, Nawec said the measure is a temporary contingency response to current electricity supply challenges affecting The Gambia, largely linked to reduced regional power availability.

It added that the arrangement is designed to safeguard electricity supply for households and businesses during “this period of uncertainty” in the regional energy system.

‎”This supplementary power will be dispatched only when required and strictly to stabilise supply during peak demand periods. This arrangement is temporary, conditional, and flexible. It is structured for a maximum period of up to 50 days, but current projections indicate that supply conditions could stabilise earlier depending on improvements in regional generation and fuel availability. The measure would be scaled down or discontinued as soon as normal supply conditions improve,” the company explained.

‎Nawec further clarifies that fuel cost implications must be understood in the broader regional context. ”Our regional supplier is facing similar constraints, including the use of more expensive FO/diesel due to the temporary unavailability of natural gas. As a result, lower-cost generation is not currently feasible across the affected supply chain. It is also important to note that in practice, usage of the additional capacity would be limited as it would be strictly based on actual need, meaning the usage would be less than the maximum scenario of the full 50 days,” the company said.

It argued that under this arrangement therefore, total costs are expected to be significantly lower. “Nonetheless, this is not a permanent cost structure, but a short-term mitigation measure to reduce the risk of severe load shedding.”