Dakar's Energy Hub Status Faces Environmental, Land Use Challenges

Yacine Tine, Director of the Regional Development Agency (ARD), recently highlighted at a Regional Development Committee (CRD) meeting that the Dakar region in Senegal accounts for 36.9% of national electricity consumption and 46% of sector investments, underscoring its central role in the country's energy system. This concentration is further evidenced by the fact that the essential production park of the interconnected network is located in the western zone, which is also the main consumption basin, housing strategic refining, gas, and storage infrastructures. The department of Rufisque, experiencing significant urban growth, hosts a substantial portion of these energy facilities, with key players like Mnersol, West African Energy, Sococim Industries, Fabrimetal, the Compagnie d’électricité du Sénégal, and Movamar Industries operating within the area. Two major initiatives, the "Gas to Power" strategy and the SAR 2.0 project by Société africaine de raffinage (SAR), are poised to further enhance Dakar's energy prominence, aiming to develop the gas network, convert thermal power plants, and boost national refining capacity to over 5.5 million tons per year.