Senelec (Société nationale d'électricité du Sénégal) is the national electricity company of Senegal.
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Senelec was established in 1983 after the nationalization and merger of Électricité du Sénégal and Société sénégalaise de distribution d'électricité.[1] In 1998, the Agency for Rural Electrification (ASER) and the Electricity Regulatory Board were split from Senelec and the company was put into privatization.[2] In 1999, the consortium of Hydro-Québec and Elyo (Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux) bought 34% of Senelec's shares. The deal was annulled by President Abdoulaye Wade in March 2000, and Hydro-Québec and Elyo withdrew from Senegal in January 2001.[3]
The company represents Senegal in the West African Power Pool.
Senelec has a production capacity of 632.9 MW, 90 MW of which comes from the Manantali Hydroelectric Power Plant in Mali; however, the electricity output is only 519.4 MW due to aging and faulty equipment.[4] The company has 2,500 employees and 645,000 customers.[5]
In 2006, Senelec got 88 billion CFA francs (US$185 million) of subsidies subsidies and its arrears alone amount to 1.5% of GDP.[6]
Senelec plans a new coal-fired power station 35 km SE of Dakar, the Sendou power station, with a a net capacity of 115 MW.