In Mali, electricity accounts for only 1 % of the national consumption of energy, the remainder being ensured by traditional energies such as wood and charcoal, and imported oil. Modern energies (hydrocarbons and electricity) account for 10% of the total power consumption. At the present time, only the biomass (wood for heating, charcoal, residues from agricultural and agro-industrial products) and hydraulic power are used on a large scale, the first for domestic consumption and the second for electric production.
The hydroelectric potential of the country, based on the Senegal and Niger Rivers, is estimated at 1 000 MW and is able to produce 5 000 GWh during a one year average. On this potential, only 50 MW (approximately 220 GWh) are exploited up to now, owing to the Sélingué and Sotuba Dams on the Niger River.
The organisation responsible for the electricity supply industry in Mali is Energie du Mali (EDM), based in the capital Bamako. The company also distributes water. Along with EDM, electricity is also provided by the parastatal utility, Electricite du Mali.
EDM is by and large responsible for the production, the transportation and the distribution of energy, electrical power and water, to the urban areas of Mali. The EDM's strategy, regarding the energy sector, has three broad aims, and those are: to develop sources of renewable energy, to develop hydroelectric power potential and to liberalize the sector.
In order to conclude the reorganization of the energy sector in Mali, the National Management of Energy was created in 1999, and the body for the regulation of electrical power and water, was created in March 2000, so that the rehabilitation of its existing infrastructures could be achieved. The State was thus withdrawn from the production, and in December 2000 EDM was privatized and the exploitation of the hydroelectric manufacturing unit of the Manantali Dam was entrusted to a private operator, namely, Eskom, in 2001.
South Africa's Eskom Enterprises won a US$ 85 million contract in mid-2001 to operate and maintain the newly constructed Manantali hydro station for 15 years. The 200 MW power station supplies power to Mali, Senegal and Mauritania.
The Government of Mali's energy policy aims to ensure the provision of electricity to as much of the population as possible, and is based on:
(i) a substantial improvement of the effectiveness and productivity of the sector,
(ii) the disengagement of the State from the operational activities of the electricity industry, and
(iii) the broadest participation and fastest distribution to the deprived sector of Mali with these activities.
Moreover, on a regional scale, Mali is a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and has therefore participated, along with other members of ECOWAS, in the signing of the West African Power Pool (WAPP) agreement in October 2000, which reaffirmed the decision to develop energy production facilities and interconnect their respective electricity grids. According to the agreement, the WAPP will be accomplished in two phases but is planned to be fully implemented by 2005. Mali, along with countries such as Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Senegal, Gambia and Cape Verde, will actively be involved in the second phase of the WAPP agreement. Under the agreement, WAPP is expected to harmonize the regulatory framework that governs the electricity sector in each member country.
Mali's electricity production in 2002 was 700 million kWh and its electricity consumption in 2002 was 651 million kWh.
The hydroelectric power station of Sélingué is by far the most significant power station of the country with a capacity of 44 MW and an annual production of energy from about 180 GWh. Since 1993, thorough inspections and studies showed that the Sélingué Dam was in a state of requiring substantial rehabilitation work, and earth dam and hydroelectric equipment was needed.
The Organization for the Development of the River Senegal (OMVS) created in 1972 by Mali, Mauritania and Senegal, built in 1988 a stopping which provided electricity of 800 GWh, from which the network of Mali would have profited since 2001.
The projects of EDM include the regional project of a hydroelectric power station on the dam Manantali, initiated in 1990 by the OMVS. Mali would have had a hydraulic additional capacity of 104 MW in 2003.
Among the principal projects of EDM, there is the extension of Mali's electrical power network being interconnected towards the zones of Niono and the cotton zones of Koutiala and Sikasso, as well as the construction of a National Center of Control. It is estimated that EDM's top priority in the long term is the interconnection of Mali's electrical power network with the network of Côte d'Ivoire in 2005 - 2006.
Furthering the projects of the EDM company, the projects of SOGEM Manantali involve the continuation of the programme for developing the electric power potential of the Senegal River, of which the Falls of Félou and Gouina have the power potential of 100MW. Feasibility studies for each of these resources are underway and remain relevant to the need of supplying electricity to the population of Mali .
Several projects aiming at gradually emphasizing the national hydroelectric potential, estimated at 1050 MW, are currently studied by the Ministry of Energy for the rural development of theTossaye and Kénié Dams, and the Félou and Gouina Power Stations.
