Transformational Partnership: Guinea Bissau starts detailed feasibility and design works on the 20 MW Saltinho Run-Off-River Hydropower Project

Under the guiding motto “NOW OR NEVER”, the Guinea Bissau Sustainable Energy International Conference, held from 6 to 7 December 2018 in Bissau, had called for USD 700 million of investment. Now, another important mile-stone has been achieved.

As a result of a competetive bidding process, the consortia COBA Consultores de Engenharia e Ambiete/Artelia Eau & Environnement (Portugal) was awarded with a 1,5 million Euro contract to develop a bankable feasibility study and a detailed engineering and design study on the Saltinho Run-Off-River Hydropower Project with an estimated capacity of 20 MW. The project is located in Guinea Bissau on the Corubal River, around 100 km south-east of the capital Bissau.

The transformational project is being developed by the Gambia River Basin Organization (OMVG), the United Nations Organization Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) with funding from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), the Gobal Environment Facility (GEF) and the Austrian Development Bank (OeEB). The project is part of a wider regional OMVG grid extension project, which will interlink the countries Guinea, Guinea Bissau, The Gambia and Senegal.

Together with the 20 MW solar PV power plant near Bissau, the Saltinho Run-Off-River Hydropower Project is a significant contribution to the implementation of the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) and the National Sustainable Energy Investment Plan (NSEIP). By now, already more than 50 million Euro of investment has been raised. The Saltinho project is expected to have an investment volume of 60 to 100 million Euro.

This will bring Guinea Bissau closer to the established targets in the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP). The policy aims at 50% renewable energy penetration in the grid peak demand by 2030. In this scenario, around 80% of the population will have access to electricity services. Around 9% of the population will be served by renewable energy-based hybrid mini-grids and stand-alone systems

Since 2014, UNIDO and the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) are supporting the Government of Guinea Bissau through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded project “Promoting Renewable Energy Investments in the Electricity Sector of Guinea Bissau”.