Gambia inks power rental deal with Turkish company

By Mustapha K Darboe

BANJUL, Gambia (AA) - Gambia on Monday signed a power purchase agreement with the Turkish energy company KarPower International Limited.

According to the power rental agreement, KarPower will serve Gambia 30 megawatts of electricity for a 2-year period starting from March.

The cost of the agreement is yet to be disclosed but Gambia's Energy Minister Fafa Sanyang said the deal will buy the national energy company time to work on it old generators and improve its efficiency.

“This is a welcoming development especially at this time when we are struggling to improve our national energy supply,” Sanyang said.

Mehmet Katmer, the Turkish company's coordinator who signed the agreement, said their ship will be arriving in Gambia in 3-week time.

KarPower is expected to start operations within 7 weeks after the signing of the agreement.

Gambia's energy company currently struggles with huge capacity gaps, serving only 42 percent of the population.

The country needs up to 110 megawatts of electricity but the national company generates only 70 megawatts with some old generators, which are being repaired.

Baba Fatajo, the managing director of the national energy company, said the temporary energy solution will help them improve their service delivery. "This is the best deal we could get after several negotiations."

This is the second power purchase agreement Gambia signs after its first one with Senegalese power company last year.