COVERSTORY

Renewable Energy Grid Integration In Western Africa Region: Understanding Region's Potential For Solar + Storage

West Africa has one the lowest electrification rates and some of the high electricity bills in Sub-Saharan Africa In addition, rising oil prices ha increased liabilities for electricity utilities This has led to countries fac an acute power supply crisis which could threaten their economic grow To mitigate the energy security crisis, the western African region has tak several steps to integrate renewable energy into the regional grid.

Creation Of West African Power Pool (WAPP)

The West African Power Pool (WAPP) was created by Decision

A/DEC 5/12/99 of the Twenty-Second Summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government. By Decision A/DEC.18/01/06, the TwentyNinth Summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government held in Niamey adopted the Articles of Agreement for WAPP organization and functions The mission and vision of the WAPP are to promote and develop power generation and transmission infrastructures as well as to coordinate power exchange among the ECOWAS member states by integrating the national power systems in a unified regional electric market to provide a reliable and affordable energy supply at a competitive price for the ECOWAS region's citizens

ECOWAS or the Economic Community of West African States is a treaty signed in Lagos on 28th May 1975, between the Heads of State and Governments of fifteen West African Countries The Treaty of Lagos was signed by the 15 Heads of State and the Government of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Togo, with its stated mission to promote economic integration across the region

ECOWAS Member Countries

The Regional Electricity Access and Battery-Energy Storage Technologies

(BEST)

Project, 2021

In June 2021, the World Bank Group contributed $465 million to west Africa to increase energy access and integrate renewable energy under the Regional Electricity Access and Battery Energy Storage Technologies Project (BEST) It aimed at providing electricity access to more than 1 million Sahelans, improving the stability of the power grid for another 3 5 million, building the capacity of ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA), as well as strengthening the WAPP's network operation through battery- energy storage technologies infrastructure Cote d'Ivoire, Niger, and Mali, under the ECOWAS member states, the project was designed to finance BEST equipment to improve the stability of the regional electricity network by increasing the energy reserve in these countries and facilitating the integration of variable renewable energy expected to be able to store and dispatch ng peak hours using battery-energy storage low them to rely less on carbon-intensive generation technologies when there is no sun shining or wind blowing The BEST project was expected to encourage privatesector participation in the region It also supported the market for renewable energies, since the battery-energy storage capacity built under the project was to accommodate the 793 MW new solar power capacity WAPP plans to build in the three countries

The Public–Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility, PPIAFsupported technical assistance (TA) in helping prepare the ECOWAS Regional Battery Storage project These guidelines addressed issues such as identifying, structuring, and preparing PPPs The general framework was designed to help leverage private capital for BESS. It combines both the managerial and investment expertise of managers in operating RE and battery stock systems with private-sector investment The PPIAF technical reports focused on BESS project development through public-private partnerships (PPPs) PPIAF's technical assistance supported a pre-feasibility analysis for potential BESS projects in Cote D'Ivoire and Mali In addition to the technical assistance (TA), 135 officials of ECOWAS, West Africa Power Pool (WAPP), and utilities from Mali and Cote D'Ivoire were trained on BESS topics They received training in operations and maintenance, environmental impact, social issues, and social issues involved with the development of battery storage projects Based on the PPIAF technical assessment, the World Bank approved a project to install 205 megawatt-hours (MWh) battery storage systems to provide frequency control to the WAPP power system. The equipment was to be installed in three sub-stations in Cote d’Ivoire (105 MWh), Mali (80 MWh), and Niger (20 MWh)

The New Regional Emergency Solar Power Intervention Project (RESPITE), 2022

In Dec 2022, the World Bank approved $311 million to increase grid-connected renewable energy capacity in the west Africa region under the new Regional Emergency Solar Power Intervention Project (RESPITE) A $20 million grant is included in the new project to facilitate future regional power trading and to strengthen the technical and institutional capacities of the West Africa Power Pool (WAPP), to carry out its regional mandate The RESPITE's main purpose is to quickly increase renewable energy capacity that is connected to the grid and strengthen regional integration within the participating countries. It will finance the operation and installation of approximately 106MW of solar PV with battery energy storage and energy storage systems and also 41MW expanded hydroelectric capacity. The fund will also support electricity distribution and transmission intervention across the four participating countries The project will encourage leading international private developers into smaller and more fragile countries It will also prove the viability of grid-connected solar and storage in participating countries