The National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) said on Tuesday that the country is short about 26 megawatts of power, which is why load shedding is still going on to keep the lights on.
Sanna Gomez, NAWEC’s operations and planning manager, said at a press conference that the country’s current electricity capacity is about 78 megawatts, while peak demand is almost 106 megawatts. Gomez said, “Demand is higher than what is available.” He said that the shortfall is due to problems with getting fuel, logistical issues, and supply disruptions around the world.
52% of the 78 megawatts currently available come from imports, and 24% come from NAWEC’s own power plants. Gomez said, “We have to get fuel, but we also have to figure out how to get it on the ground.”
Gomez asked Gambians to take steps to save energy, stressing that even homes that have electricity must help manage demand. He said, “If it were up to us, we wouldn’t want to load-shed anyone.” “But sadly, we don’t have the resources, so we have to ask everyone in the country to help and save energy.”
He said, “If it were up to us, we wouldn’t want to load-shed anyone, but unfortunately, we don’t have the capacity, so we have to ask the whole Gambia to help and save energy.”
When demand is higher than generation capacity, load shedding is a common way to stop the flow of electricity. The utility wants to stop a nationwide blackout that lasts for a long time by temporarily lowering consumption.
