Gambia’s Sustainable Energy Services Company is launching a tender to install 1,100 PV systems, ranging from 2 kW to 240 kW in size, on 1,000 schools and 99 health facilities.

Sustainable Energy Services Company (SESCO), which is jointly owned by Gambia’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA) and the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MoPE), has launched a tender to deploy rooftop PV systems on 1,000 schools and 99 health facilities.

The Gambian government said it has secured financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to implement the projects, which will be part of the Gambia Sustainable Energy Project (GSEP) within the Gambia Renewable Energy Framework.

The PV systems will range in capacity from 2 kW to 240 kW.  The time limit for the acceptance of tenders or requests to participate is Oct. 31.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Gambia only had 2 MW of installed PV capacity at the end of 2022.

Gambian utility Nawec recently started building a 23 MW solar project in Jambur, in Gambia’s West Coast Region.

The Gambian electricity network mainly consists of minigrids that the government hopes to improve by transforming into hybrid minigrids, integrated with renewable energy generation capacity.

With an electricity access rate of just 35%, Gambia introduced the Renewable Energy Act to promote clean energy in 2013.