UPDATE - Siemens Gamesa to build 59-MW wind farm in Djibouti

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA (BME:SGRE) announced today it will build a wind farm in Djibouti, which will bring 59 MW to a country that has just over 100 MW of installed generation capacity.

The project’s lead developer, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), said separately it is investing USD 63 million (EUR 58m) in the installation alongside Great Horn Investment Holdings (GHIH), the investment vehicle wholly-owned by Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA).

Dutch development bank FMO and Climate Fund Managers (CFM) through Climate Investor One have also contributed funds for the undertaking. The wind project is further covered by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), of the World Bank Group.

Siemens Gamesa is to install 17 units of SG 3.4-132 wind turbines at a site spanning 395 hectares (976 acres) in the Ghoubet area near Lake Assal. The company will also provide maintenance services for at least ten years with an option for a renewal.

The wind farm is scheduled to commence operations in mid-2021. AFC has secured a 25-year take-or-pay power purchase agreement (PPA) for the wind farm’s output with public utility Electricite de Djibouti.

Djibouti, a nation on the Horn of Africa, is home to a population of 958,920, according to the World Bank’s data from 2018. The country has 126 MW of total installed capacity, all thermal power, but only 57 MW is reliably available, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) states in its power fact sheet. Furthermore, 110,000 households in Djibouti have no access to electricity.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.923)

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