By Fatou Sillah
The Managing Director of the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC), Galo Saidy, has indicated that the ongoing electricity disruptions affecting parts of The Gambia could continue for another one to two weeks.
Speaking in an interview with West Coast Radio, Saidy attributed the erratic power supply to technical challenges impacting regional electricity providers in Senegal and Guinea. He explained that the situation is beyond NAWEC’s direct control, as it stems from faults on the OMVG regional power transmission line.
“This is a technical issue that is beyond NAWEC’s control. It is the power supply that is coming from the OMVG line. The suppliers have technical issues right now; both Senegal and Guinea also have issues,” he stated.
Saidy further noted that The Gambia is participating in load-sharing arrangements to prevent destabilization of the regional electricity grid. He emphasized that failure to adhere to these measures could place additional strain on the system.
“We also have to load share because the OMVG is a regional line, so if we don’t load share, we take more than what we should be taking; it can destabilize the whole grid,” he said.
Despite the challenges, the NAWEC Managing Director highlighted that the country continues to generate electricity locally through its generators and solar infrastructure, which are helping to mitigate the impact of the supply disruptions.
“So we are generating locally from our own generators, plus we also have the solar plant, so those are the ones that are actually helping us,” he said.
Regarding the timeline for resolution, Saidy said information from regional suppliers suggests that normal electricity supply could be restored within the next two weeks.
“I would say probably maximum, with the information I’m getting from our suppliers, at least another week or two. Within the next two weeks, we should be able to go back to normality; this is my understanding,” he said.
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