Mauritania to expand power capacity through gas, renewables and grid upgrades

Mauritania is targeting new thermal, gas-to-power, solar and wind projects to satisfy rising urban power demand.

What: Mauritania is advancing the development of both fossil and renewable resources for power generation.

Why: New projects are expected to ease chronic power shortages, improve energy reliability and help attract industrial investment.

What next: Transmission grid upgrades will support Mauritania’s goal of full electricity access by 2030.

Mauritania is seeking to increase electricity generation to satisfy rapidly rising urban power demand, especially in and around the capital city of Nouakchott with over one million residents. Officials have confirmed that work is advancing on the Nouakchott thermal power plant expansion, which will raise its capacity from 180 MW to 252 MW.

Construction of the new facility is now 50% complete, with critical equipment and 7,000 m³ fuel storage units en route to the capital, Energy Capital & Power (ECP) reported on February 6. The plant will use four 18-MW generators built in Germany, with key electrical components due for delivery by March, and is on track for commissioning in 2026. The project is expected to ease chronic power shortages, improve energy reliability and help attract industrial investment.

“The new power plant will, once it comes online, help increase the generation capacity of the interconnected electricity grid, improve power stability and significantly reduce outages – particularly during peak hours – offering a practical response to the challenges the sector has accumulated over the past decades,” Mauritania’s Minister of Energy and Petroleum Mohamed Ould Khaled said, as quoted by ECP.

Mauritania has historically relied on oil-fired generation in Nouakchott, with imported fuel used to supply baseload electricity as domestic gas-to-power infrastructure is still developing. However, natural gas is increasingly seen as a cleaner fuel during the energy transition.

According to Ecofin Agency’s recent report, the country’s present strategy rests on the parallel development of both fossil and renewable resources, integrating domestically produced natural gas with solar and wind power, together with expanded infrastructure.

Nevertheless, thermal power, already prevalent in Mauritania’s electricity mix, is expected to play a significant role in ensuring supply over the coming years.

Gas-to-power

Mauritania’s electricity grid has come under strain from rising demand and ageing infrastructure – a disincentive to foreign direct investment and industrial growth. The country’s installed generation capacity of roughly 615 MW yields 1.66 TWh of electricity, yet only about 520 MW of that capacity is consistently available at peak periods, leaving a slim buffer to satisfy demand and exposing the grid to outages and load-shedding. Technical and commercial losses across the system are nearing 30% of injected power.

These structural weaknesses create knock-on effects, says ECP. Without reliable electricity, businesses face higher operating costs from backup generators and unpredictable schedules for manufacturing, processing, or exporting goods.

Yet the country’s energy sector is approaching a turning point. British energy supermajor BP (LSE/NYSE: BP) and its partner Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS), a US-based independent oil and gas company, began operations at the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) project in late 2024, with first gas achieved in January 2025. After recording its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) export in April 2025 from the GTA LNG, Mauritania now has a platform for gas-to-power integration that could further strengthen supply.

The GTA LNG project illustrates how domestic market obligations (DMOs) can work in practice. As a joint LNG development for Mauritania and Senegal, it allocates 35mn standard cubic feet (mmcf) of gas per day, approximately 1mn cubic metres (mcm) of gas per day, to each country for domestic use. This supports local power generation and industry while maintaining LNG exports, linking domestic supply directly to production growth.

According to ECP’s report, Mauritania intends to advance two further power generation projects led by independent power producers (IPPs) to commercialise this gas, which together will supply 550 MW to the national grid. Other projects, such as BirAllah, with reserves estimated at about 2.3 trillion cubic feet, or 65bn cubic metres (bcm) of gas, as well as smaller domestic assets like the Banda gas field, where operations are due to commence in 2028, present additional in-country fuel sources for electricity production and wider energy export opportunities.

Integrating renewables into power mix

Mauritania is one of Africa’s most resource-rich yet sparsely populated nations, with an economy long anchored by iron ore, gold, copper, and fisheries, but now rapidly diversifying into renewable energy and green hydrogen.

In October 2025, Mauritania signed its first independent power producer (IPP) agreement with Ewa Green Energy for the construction and operation of a hybrid solar–wind power plant with up to 220 MW of combined capacity, as reported by NewsBase at the time. The $300mn project, the first of its kind in the northwestern African country, will combine 160 MW of solar power with 60 MW of wind power at a single site backed by a 370-MWh battery energy-storage system (BESS).

Construction work started in December 2025, with the project expected to come online by September 2026. It will be entirely funded by the private sector, Ecofin Agency reports, and will add to renewable generation, which already accounts for 44.36% of the country’s energy mix, according to the National Energy Pact published under the Mission 300 initiative.

Grid upgrades and industrial growth

Mauritania is strengthening its electricity transmission and distribution systems to deliver on its National Energy Pact and support economic growth. The government aims to extend power access to 3.4 million more people by 2030, lifting national electrification from about 55% today to full coverage. Plans also call for renewables to supply 70% of generation and for installed capacity to expand by a factor of 1.66 by 2030.

Investment in grid infrastructure is advancing alongside these goals, including new high-voltage connections and wider upgrades to stabilise supply. As reported by Ecofin Agency, the government has announced that equipment for the high-voltage Nouakchott – Zouerate transmission line is expected to arrive by the end of February, with commissioning scheduled in 2026. Officials have also confirmed the launch of tenders for an interconnection between Nouakchott – Néma amid continuing work to strengthen the electricity distribution network in Nouakchott.

A more reliable network is expected to unlock industrial development, particularly energy-intensive projects. The Mauritania Green Ammonia project, developed by Polish engineering and project development firm Hynfra, is a planned $1.5bn facility near Nouakchott that aims to produce renewable ammonia by 2030. According to ECP, the project is expected to draw on electricity from the new thermal plant during construction.

Once operational, the facility will use local wind and solar resources to power electrolysers, with output exported via the Friendship Port. The development illustrates how improved grid reliability is making large, energy-intensive investments more practical.