The government of Senegal has, through an inter-ministerial decree, exempted from Value Added Tax (VAT), a list of 22 materials used in the production of renewable energy from solar, wind and biogas.By Abdourahmane Diallo

The list of exempted equipment intended for the production of solar energy concerns photovoltaic solar panel, solar thermal collector or panel, solar inverter, solar battery, solar water heater kit, charge controller, solar lamp kit, solar street light comprising solar panel, controller battery and lantern.

These also include solar pumping kit comprising solar panel, controller and pump.

For equipment intended for the production of wind energy, VAT exemption concerns the tower, the blade, the rotor, the nacelle and the hub, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy says Monday in a statement to APA.

With regard to the materials intended for the production of electricity and heat from biogas, the release points out that this include biogas stove, biogas flow analyzer, prefabricated bio digester, biogas pump, desulfurization apparatus, water trap, biogas generator set and substrate mixing apparatus.

These measures taken by the government are aimed at substantially lowering the costs of acquiring such equipment (18 percent) to facilitate access to energy, and particularly electricity, in rural areas. 

They are part of a policy for universal access to electricity by 2025, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the promotion of renewable energies, the statement explains.

According to it, the government has just responded, through VAT exemption, an old complaint by players in the renewable energy sector.