EIB and EU back 225 kV transmission line in West Africa
Luxembourg, Kirchberg: The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide financial assistance for an interconnector between power plants in Guinea and Mali.
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Luxembourg, Kirchberg: The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide financial assistance for an interconnector between power plants in Guinea and Mali.
EIB and European Union will provide $398 M (€330 M) for the project that will provide millions in West Africa access to clean and affordable energy.
A 225 kV, 340 km transmission line traversing Guinea from west to east will link the Kaléta and Souapiti hydroelectric power plants (total capacity of 690 MW), as well as other facilities, to the West African Power Pool. It will include long-distance transmission links (also financed by the EIB) to Mali, Senegal and the Gambia to the west and north, and Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone to the east and south.
The new interconnector will join two separate regional networks and provide a more reliable and environmentally friendly alternative to expensive generators and power plants using imported fuel oil. The project includes the construction of new local electricity distribution plants to supply rural villages close to the new line and transmission plants to connect to the existing energy infrastructure.
Since the transmission line will pass through environmentally sensitive forests, women from local communities will be employed to reforest dense woodland and wooded savannah and replace forests removed along a 40 m corridor to protect primates from electrocution. Local birdlife will also be managed through ornithological monitoring in accordance with Birdlife International measures.
Over the last decade, the EIB has provided more than $6.4 B (€5.3 B) for energy investment across Africa, covering clean power generation, energy distribution and off-grid renewable energy.
Source: T&D World