Before the year 2000 parastatal utility, the National Company of Water and Electricity or Société Nationale d’Eau et d’électricité (SONELEC), was responsible for the supply of electrical power and water in Mauritania. The company had become privatized in 2000 and this resulted in the formation of two new private companies being responsible for the supply of water and electricity separately. The National Water Company (SNDE) dealt with the water supply of the country and the Mauritanian Electricity Company/Société Mauritanienne de l’électricité (SOMELEC) became solely responsible for the supplying electrical power.
In line with Mauritania’s liberal economic reforms, the formation of SOMELEC allowed for more investment and continual budgetary support, improving the electrical power supply and expanding the electrical power distribution network in the country. Since SOMELEC’S privatization, Mauritania’s electrical power generation has been heavily dependent on thermal power plants, but increased investment has resulted in new technological knowledge and project initiatives being brought into the country.
With this in mind, SOMELEC has aimed to significantly increase the distribution rate in towns with existing networks by improving security conditions and setting prices compatible with household purchasing power. The company has also planned to bring electricity to urban and rural areas that have not been connected in its national grid. Falling in line with these aims, SOMELEC’S specific objectives for the five-year period from 2003 to 2008 is to extend electricity supply networks to many new regions in urban, semi-urban or rural areas, and to increase the effectiveness of various production units including those at Nouakchott and Atar.
Mauritania has also been receiving electrical power from Mali through recent hydropower developments, due to a power sharing agreement between the two countries.
The Manatali hydropower project was completed in 2003. The project consisted of a 200-MW power station and an 800-mile (1,300-km) network of transmission lines to the capitals of Mali (Bamako), Mauritania (Nouakchott) and Senegal (Dakar). This development initiative supplies electricity to the grids of Mali, Mauritania, as well as Senegal.
The project has also allowed for the construction of a single-circuit, 100km long, transmission line connecting Kaedi to Boghe, and having an exchange capacity of 24MW. This included the expansion of the 90kV Kaedi substation, the supply and installation of the overhead lines, cables, switchgear, protection and control equipment. All of which was necessary to reinforce the system and connect the substations at Kaedi, Boghe and Rosso with the corresponding 15kV SOMELEC power generating stations in these three towns in Mauritania.
