Chad’s first large-scale wind farm ‘could deliver first power in 2025’

UK-based Savannah Energy is to build 500MW of renewable energy assets in the Republic of Chad, including an up to 100MW wind farm that will serve the capital city, N’Djamena, under a new agreement signed with the Chad government.

The 100MW Centrales d’Energie Renouvelable de N’Djamena Centrales d’Energie Renouvelable de N’Djamena (100MW) OnshoreN’Djamena, Chad, Middle East & Africa Click to see full details wind farm will be combined with a solar farm of up to 100MW capacity as well as storage capacity. Together, the wind-solar-stroage project will more than double the capital’s power supply, Savannah claimed. 

Approval for the project is expected in 2023/24 and first power is due to be delivered in 2025/26. Savannah plans to fund the project from internal cash flows and project debt.

Savannah Energy is an upstream oil and gas company previously working in Nigeria and Niger that acquired a 75% stake in Chad’s Doba oil field in January. It plans further fossil fuel acquisitions in Cameroon. 

However, in a January 2022 trading update it announced it had established a new renewable energy division. It stated: “Opportunities exist throughout Africa in the renewable energy sphere,” adding that Africa, “represents a potentially vast target market of over 310GW by 2030”. It believes that its “hydrocarbon asset operational management skills are directly transferable to the renewable energy space”. 

Its first renewable energy project, announced in March, is a 250MW wind farm in Niger with up to 60 turbines. The 250MW Parc Eolien de la Tarka Parc Eolien de la Tarka (250MW) OnshoreTahoua Region, Niger, Middle East & Africa Click to see full details project will also be self-funded by Savannah and will be owned by a subsidiary. 

In Chad, the N’Djamena project will follow on from a 300MW solar farm, with battery storage, in Komé, Southern Chad – the Centrale Solaire de Komé. This project will provide power for the Doba oil project and the surrounding towns of Moundou and Doba. 

The N’Djema wind farm will be Chad’s second. The 1.1MW Amdjarass Amdjarass (1.1MW) OnshoreAmdjarass, Ennedi, Chad, Middle East & Africa Click to see full details wind farm features four 275kW Vergnet turbines and was commissioned in 2016.