Support to OMVG for a complementary economical study of the Sambangalu Hydro Power Project

The Sambangalou Hydro Power Project (SHPP) is a transboundary initiative presented by the Gambia River Basin Organisation (OMVG) which regroups Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal. This sub-regional organization is the executive agency designated by the four member countries to implement integrated development programs aimed to a rational and harmonious exploitation of common resources in the basins of the Gambia, Kayanga-Gébas and Koliba-Corubals Rivers. 

The development of these fluvial basins offers an opportunity for the development of the energy potential still for the most part untapped.  With regards to the significant energy deficit to be satisfied within the sub-region and to the strong dependence of the electrical production on imported oil products, assessment studies confirmed the necessity to increase the hydroelectric energy offer with additional production units and resulted in the set-up of the OMVG Energy project which comprises three components: the hydroelectric developments of Sambangalou and Kaléta and the interconnection line. The total cost of this project is estimated at 990 million EUR.  The Samabangalu hydro-powerplant will have an installed capacity of 128 MW, and should be operational by 2015. The total energy production should reach 208 to 402 GWh per year. However, the important volume of pondage can contribute to the downstream development, notably through irrigation. The SHPP hence offers interesting advantages but involves also environmental and social risks, notably at the level of the relocation of populations and of the riparian wet zones of the Gambia River downstream the dam. 

A feasibility study, including the Environmental and Social impacts study for the SHPP has been completed in 2006.  However, some aspects such as the economic analysis and environmental and social aspects have to be critically reviewed and analysed more deeply.  

The ITF Grant will be used by OMVG to contract international consultant firms for the assessment of the Total Economic Value (TEV) of the project including the environmental and social impacts and related mitigation measures, for the review of the mitigation and compensation measures contained in the Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) and in the Population Resettlement Plan (PRP), an analyse of the sensitivity of the project profitability to flood variations and to climate and precipitation conditions variability as well as economical analysis opportunities potentially due to a responsible and sustainable management of natural resources within the Gambia River basin. 

The results of this complementary study are critical for evaluating the profitability and the relevance of the SHPP.