Status Under construction Nameplate capacity 140 MW (190,000 hp) Construction cost 329 million USD | Commission date 2017 est. Construction began December 2013 | |
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Units under const. 3 x 46.6 megawatts (62,500 hp) Kaplan-type | ||
The Gouina Hydroelectric Plant is a run-of-the-river-type hydroelectric installation currently being constructed on Gouina Falls along the Senegal River in Mali. It is located about 18 km (11 mi) southeast of Diamou in the Kayes Region. It is the fourth project of the Senegal River Basin Development Authority and its ground-breaking ceremony on 17 December 2013 was attended by the heads of state of each member country. Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz laid the foundation stone. Preliminary construction had been suspended due to the 2012 Malian coup d'état and subsequent Northern Mali conflict. The plant is expected to be complete in 2017 and will provide power to Mauritania, Mali and Senegal. The plant will cost US$329 million and the 280 km (170 mi) of transmission lines will cost US$65 million. The project is receiving 85 percent of its funding from the Exim Bank of China along with US$1 million from the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund and US$1.4 million from the International Development Association and European Investment Bank.
It will have an installed capacity of 140 megawatts (190,000 hp) and will use the outflows of the Manantali Dam upstream to regulation water flow into the plant. A 1,230 m (4,040 ft) long weir just above the water fall will direct water into a channel which will feed the power house just downstream of the falls. The power house will contain three 46.6 MW Kaplan turbine-generators. The difference in elevation the water fall and weir provide will afford a hydraulic head (water drop) of 22.5 m (74 ft).