Voices from the Territories: Experiences and Challenges of the Energy Transition in Senegal

Senegal has considerable renewable energy potential, including solar, wind, and hydropower, that remains largely underexploited. With the energy transition in view, the country has, over the past several years, committed to developing renewable energy projects, including at the territorial level, where they now account for 30% of installed national capacity. 

In 2023, Senegal joined the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), with the objective of increasing the share of renewables to 40% by 2030, reducing production costs, improving electricity access in rural areas, creating local jobs, limiting environmental impacts, and stimulating territorial development. 

The JETP mechanism is still in the design and validation phase. It will be accompanied by an investment plan, not yet published, comprising 34 validated projects, of which only 11 have secured financing. In that investment plan, the government acknowledges the need to establish a body, commission, or working group dedicated to equity and justice, whose mandate would be to “evaluate projects” and which “may request modifications or amendments to better respect equity and justice criteria,” with a particular focus on the social impacts of selected projects, including employment, local content, training, social dialogue, gender, and human rights. 

In this context, the energy transition must not be reduced to a mere technological shift or a set of quantitative production targets. It must be just and equitable. This means integrating the needs and voices of directly affected communities, reducing inequalities, preparing local governments for the transformations ahead, and ensuring that the benefits of the transition reach everyone, especially the most vulnerable groups.

This analysis builds on previous NRGI work on the JETP in Senegal, developed in partnership with Senegalese civil society organizations, with the goal of amplifying the voices of communities and local authorities likely to host energy projects. It draws lessons from the power plants established in Bargny (coal), Malicounda (thermal and solar), Méouane (solar), and Taïba Ndiaye (wind), highlighting the experiences of municipalities and local communities regardinggovernance practices and the socio environmental impacts of these projects. It also examines how renewable energy projects have been implemented in practice, the gaps between stated “just transition” principles and on-the ground realities, and formulates concrete, actionable recommendations. 

This work is the product of desk research combined with in-depth interviews, focus groups, and site observations in the areas hosting the projects. In total, ten interviews and five focus groups were conducted. 

The interviews and focus groups were carried out by a joint team from NRGI (Natural Resource Governance Institute), LSD (Lumière Synergie pour le Développement), and WIM (Women in Mining). Data were collected from communities, with particular attention to women, community leaders, and young people, as well as from elected local officials. On 19 November 2025, NRGI organized a workshop to review preliminary findings with community actors, local authorities, and civil society organizations, to cross-check and strengthen the field data. 

Some limitations of this study should be noted, in particular the absence of direct interviews with companies operating in the areas studied, which would have allowed for cross-checking and verification of the information gathered from communities and local authorities. 

This gap underscores the need for a more balanced and ongoing dialogue between public, private, and community actors, in order to build a shared understanding of the real impacts of energy projects on local territories.