São Paulo – Mauritania, the Arab country in North Africa, has started works for construction of a wind farm. The enterprise is in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, and will have capacity for generation of between 31.5 megawatts and 60 megawatts of energy, according to information disclosed by African news agency Panapress.
Inauguration of the works took place on Thursday (9), in the hands of Mauritanian president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. The wind farm will be financed by the Mauritanian government and by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (Fades), at a total cost of 54 million euros. Construction of the wind farm should take 12 months and should be developed by the Spanish Elecnor.
The centre is part of a greater project for creation of wind farm in the city of Nouakchott, according to a statement by the minister of Mines, Energy and Oil, Taleb Abdy Vall. “The wind farm which is being started should make it possible for our capital to have a new source of renewable, clean and economically viable energy,” he said. The centre will contribute, in 2015, with 25% of the electric energy needs of the Mauritanian Electric Society (Somelec).
Currently, 61.7% of the energy used in Mauritania comes from fossil fuels (thermal electric mills) and 38.3% from hydroelectric power plants. The country supplies its own domestic needs, as it neither exports nor import energy. Wind energy generation, however, is arising as a new alternative for supply in the Arab country. Half of the population of Mauritania lives off agriculture and livestock, mainly subsistence farming.
Last month, Mauritania inaugurated its first solar energy generation unit, at a cost of US$ 32 million, donated by the United Arab Emirates. It should produce 15 megawatts and supply 10% of the capital’s consumption, according to Vall. The government of the Arab country hopes for renewable energy to have 20% participation in the country’s demand up to 2020.
*Translated by Mark Ament