- 05.10.2023
- Array
- Array
The Taiba N’Diaye wind farm in Senegal (Parc Éolien Taïba Ndiaye, or PETN, in French) is the first large-scale wind energy project in Senegal. It aims to provide clean energy to more than two million people, while investing in the local community to improve education, entrepreneurship and the environment.
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), part of the World Bank Group, has issued a $105.4m (€90.6m) guarantee to support this project. However, the project is classified as Category A under the MIGA Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability (2013) as there were potentially significant environmental and social impacts related to the loss of livelihoods of people affected by the project as well as biodiversity in the installation site.
This research for Recourse by local partner LSD (Lumière Synergie pour le Développement) looks at how the PETN project – from construction to its current operations – is affecting the lives and livelihoods of project-affected communities.
The research found issues with the Taiba N’Diaye wind farm in Senegal, regarding:
- Transparency, access to information and community participation;
- Land acquisition, involuntary resettlement and restoration of livelihoods;
- Gendered impacts on communities;
- and Impacts on the environment.
As local farmer Mbene Diop testifies:
“The Taïba N’diaye wind farm in Senegal may be a sustainable development project. However, just as it aims to protect the environment, it must also ensure respect for the rights and safeguard the dignity of the human beings who depend on it.”
To that end, the report makes recommendations for the World Bank Group, the Senegalese government and the PETN project itself.
Download the report in English here or find a French version here.
Photo courtesy of Afrik21.