With Parc Eolien Taiba N’Diaye (PETN), as we do for all our projects, we have ensured that we work with the local community to establish effective local recruitment policies so we can maximise opportunities for job seekers living in the surrounding area.

This process began with an employment fair hosted in Taiba N’Diaye, which was attended by over 300 people from the surrounding villages. By hosting this event and communicating our employment process, it helped our contractors make sure that they could hire local applicants from the outset, with many of them filling the first openings.

The start of construction was celebrated with a groundbreaking ceremony in December 2018. By April 2019, PETN had hired 380 people in total with the majority from Senegal. . Amongst these, 143 have been employed from the local community, showing Lekela’s commitment to delivering local employment.

Alongside this, Lekela have renovated the marketplace in Mbayenne. The need for the marketplace was identified by the Taiba Women’s Association to provide a safe location for local women to maintain their livelihoods. Lekela have also planned to build a second marketplace, in Taiba N’Diaye, that will further open up economic opportunities for local people.

All of Lekela’s projects seek to improve local education, develop local enterprise and protect the local environment. Our work to help deliver employment for those living near PETN is a great example of how our projects can boost employment directly through the wind farm itself, and indirectly through community projects.

PETN is Senegal’s first large scale wind energy project and a critical part of the government’s “Plan Senegal Emergent”. Construction has begun, with power expected to begin transmitting to the grid in November 2019.

The project will provide 158.7 megawatts of clean, reliable power to Senegal’s electricity grid. This is a 15% increase in electricity generation capacity for the country, providing power for over 2 million people.

PETN is designed to generate electricity for at least 20 years through its 46 wind turbines. During that time, up to $20 million will be invested by PETN in wider socio-economic projects for the Taiba N’Diaye community.