Siemens Gamesa has this week delivered all the components for 17 of its SG3.4-132 turbines that it will install at its 59-MW Goubet wind farm in Djibouti, despite the challenging conditions caused by COVID-19.

Siemens Gamesa said that the wind farm would almost double the country’s current installed power generation capacity.

The project will help reduce the cost of electricity, increase energy independence and decrease the country’s CO2 emissions.

Djibouti has the ambitious goal of reducing its CO2 emissions by 40% by 2030 through supplying of 100% of domestic energy demand out of renewables.

Despite high resource potential in Djibouti and opportunities for cross-border exports, there are still 110,000 households in the country without access to power.

The 17 SG 3.4-132 wind turbines will be installed near the Goubet cove in the Gulf of Tadjoura, on a 395-hectare site in Djibouti. The wind farm electricity interconnection solution, the civil works and 10 km of internal road and tracks will be built as part of project.

Siemens Gamesa will also provide maintenance to the wind farm, which is scheduled to be operational in mid-2021, for a minimum of 10 years, with the option to renew. The electricity generated will be sold by the consortium to Electricité de Djibouti, the national power generation company, for a period of 25 years.

This project is being be financed by a group of investors combining European development finance institutions and African private equity investors

It is being backed by Africa Finance Corporation, the Dutch development bank FMO, Climate Investor One, which managed Dutch investment funds in green energy in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and local company Great Horn Investment Holdings SAS.

The project is covered by MIGA, the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency.

“We believe that this project is the beginning of a new partnership and we will be relying on Siemens Gamesa’s extensive experience in the region to deliver on the project within the stipulated timeframe,” says Osaruyi Orobosa-Ogbeide, vice-president for project development & investments at the Africa Finance Corporation.