Eiffage consortium wins US$205 million undersea power cable contract in Senegal

Photo: Eiffage

Eiffage and UK-based subsea engineering company Enshore Subsea have signed a $205 million engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract to install undersea power cables in Dakar, Senegal.

The consortium is a 50/50 joint venture between Eiffage’s Benelux subsidiary Herbosch-Kiere and Enshore Subsea.

The project aims to improve high-voltage electrical network infrastructure in Dakar and the surrounding area.

It is one of several projects developed through the Senegal Power Compact programme (an investment grant agreement between Senegal and the United States), which aims to generate inclusive economic growth and reduce poverty in Senegal.

MCA-Sénégal II is the national public-sector organisation tasked with managing the programme.

Herbosch-Kiere and Enshore Subsea will install two 225 kV power cables offshore, each 16 kilometres long, plus six two-kilometre 225 kV cables onshore, linking the Bay of Dakar’s west coast (Rive Bel Air) and east coast (Cap des Biches).

The offshore work will commence in October 2023 and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2025.

The project requires the mobilization of the two companies for the excavation of trenches, in which high-density polyethylene conduits will be laid. Once the cables are installed, the trenches will be backfilled, burying the cables.

Two ships will be used in the works: the barge Gaverland and the self-propelled multipurpose vessel Atlantis.

At the same time, Eiffage Sénégal will be responsible for the onshore civil engineering works near Rive Bel Air, while Eiffage Énergie Systèmes will be installing the onshore cables.