Understanding West African Power Pool

Introduction

The WAPP was created by the Decision on the 22nd Summit of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government with the aim of curtailing the power deficit prevalent in the West African sub-region.

Subsequently in January 2006, the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government which took place at Niamey adopted the Articles of Agreement for the establishment and functioning of WAPP and granted the WAPP Secretariat the status of a specialized institution of ECOWAS.

On the 5th of July 2006, WAPP signed a Headquarters Agreement with the Government of Benin, conferring on it diplomatic immunities required to operate effectively within the entire ECOWAS Member States. The headquarters of WAPP Secretariat is presently located at PK6, Zone des Ambassades, Akpakpa, Cotonou in Republic of Benin.

As an international organisation the member states recognize that the WAPP Organisation exists and operates for the benefit of the bulk electric transmission system and to ensure the reliability of the entire region’s power supply.

WAPP Vision

WAPP’s vision is to integrate the operation of national power systems into a unified regional electricity market, which will over the medium to long term, assure the citizen of ECOWAS Member States a stable and reliable electricity supply at competitive cost.

WAPP Mission

WAPP is mandated to ensure the promotion and development of power generation and transmission facilities, as well as the coordination of power trade between ECOWAS Member States.

WAPP Objective

The primary objective of the WAPP is to develop a power transmission network that interconnects the entire West African Region.

Create an attractive environment for investments in order to facilitate the funding of power generation and transmission facilities.

Establish a legal and regulatory framework conducive for investments and suitable for enforcing common operating standards and rules in the sector.

WAPP Governance Structure

In total WAPP has four (4) governing bodies as follows:

• The General Assembly (GA) – the highest decision making body for WAPP
• The Executive Board (EB)– is the organ responsible for implementation of the decisions of the General Assembly.
• The Organisational Committees – this provide support and advice to the Executive Board on all matters concerning collective policy formulation and updating common rules of practice on technical planning, operational and environmental aspects of WAPP.
• The WAPP General Secretariat – is the administrative and technical organ in charge of the day to day management of the activities of WAPP.
• WAPP Information and Coordination Center – is an organ of WAPP Secretariat that promotes operational coordination between Transmission Owning/Operating Member through actual day to day information sharing/exchange between WAPP Operational Coordination Centers.

WAPP Articles of Agreement for the Organization and Fnctions

The objective of this Articles of Agreement is to institute a management structure for the WAPP, its organization and functions, in order to establish a good frame work of cooperation between its Members to ensure improved efficiency of power supply in ECOWAS Member States and increase access to energy for its citizens.

WAPP Members

Membership of WAPP is voluntary and open to any entity, public or private, which either own or operates generation facilities of at least 20MW or major transmission facilities and or distributes electricity in the West African Region. WAPP currently involves 22 Member Utilities including Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)

WAPP Projects in Nigeria include:

• Birnin Kebbi (Nigeria) – Niamey (Niger Republic) – Ougadougou (Burkina Faso) – Bemebreke (Benin Republic) 330KV WAPP North Core Transmission Project.
• 2nd Line 330KV Ikeja West (Nigeria) – Sakete (Benin Republic) Transmission Line.
• Monitoring & Evaluation and Management Information System (MIS) Project sponsored by a World Bank IDF Grant Fund.