World Bank Approves $311 Million for Renewable Energy in West Africa

The World Bank has cleared the Regional Emergency Solar Power Intervention Project (RESPITE) for the West African region with an approval of $311 million that will be financed through its agency – International Development Association (IDA).

The new project is expected to benefit the existing and prospective power consumers in the participating countries of Chad, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo. According to reports, the RESPITE project financing will include a grant of $20 million that is aimed at helping the strengthening of power trade in the region and also step-up the institutional and technical capacities of West Africa Power Pool (WAPP) to help it perform better for the region.

According to the World Bank, the RESPITE project will support the installation of solar and battery storage capacity, near-term O&M contracts for the provision of solar supply, extension of hydropower generation capacity, grid connection infrastructure and grid modernization and upgrades.

West Africa struggles with lowest electrification that automatically translates into high power electricity tariffs in the region. Rising oil prices and disruptions in the supply chain owing the conflicts have burdened the electricity utilities. A vicious cycle that entails short power supply has a negative impact on the economic growth of these countries.

The key objectives of the RESPITE project in the four countries are to step up renewable energy capacity which is grid-connected, further regional integration, finance the development of about 106 MW of solar power, development of battery based energy storage systems, help expand 41 MW of hydropower and strengthen green electricity distribution and transmission.

Rhonda Jordan-Antoine, World Bank Task Team Leader of the project, said, “Solutions supported by the new project are many-fold and have substantial benefits for the countries and the region. Among others, it will provide fiscal space for countries to address food crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine, initiate development of competitively tendered grid-connected clean energy to alleviate current power supply crisis, positively address climate change by helping countries to move away from expensive and polluting fuels, and help synchronize the WAPP network to enhance regional integration in the energy sector.”

“RESPITE provides benefits that spill over country boundaries and complements existing regional integration efforts in the energy sector involving all member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)”, said Boutheina Guermazi, World Bank Director for Regional Integration for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Northern Africa.

She added, “It provides economies of scale, increases potential for regional trade through investments in transmission and generation infrastructure to integrate the markets physically, and develops regional public good by facilitating knowledge sharing and capacity building.”

Earlier this year, Togo had received a loan from the West African Development Bank for the development of a 42 MWp solar power plant in the Awandjelo area.