The suitability maps, contain information on locations suitable for installation of the respective wind electricity generation systems in accordance with the restrictive criteria adopted. Locations are evaluated according to their suitability for onshore wind systems deployment according to topographical, legal, and social constraints, and well as factors that could facilitate or impede wind generation development. The present study focus exclusively on land suitability for the installation of onshore wind turbine and wind farm. The study is conducted on a regional scale. The results can be used for identification of potential areas of interest for solar generation deployment, and as a support for integration between electricity grid expansion and off-grid electrification policies. Grid connected installations - ecological scenario: Installation connected to the electrical grid, environmental impacts minimized

Includes Data for PV plants, Wind plants, Hydro Power plants, Biomass plants, Ocean Wave plants and conventional energy power plants (coal, diesel, gas and heavy fuel plants) categorized accordingly as operational or planned within a wide range operating capacity. The data is compiled by ECREEE from various sources including: Ministries of Energy of ECOWAS member states, National Information of Energy System reports (SIE), official national utilities websites and reports and the West African Power Pool (WAPP) database. HYDRO POWER PLANTS (information reviewed and updated in 2016): Regarding the information on hydro power plants (small, medium and large): First, the capacity class is according to the ECOWAS classification (small < 30MW, medium 30-100 MW, large > 100 MW). Secondly, the dataset was created using the following methodology: 1. Data on existing and planned hydropower facilities in West Africa was collected from various sources. The main databases investigated were: - ECOWREX database before December. 2015 - GranD database version 1.1 of March 2011 - Aquastat database on dams in Africa of July 2013 - List of “Hydropower & Dams in Africa 2014” in the International Journal on Hydropower & Dams 2015 special issue on “Water Storage and Hydropower Development for Africa” - JICA Nigeria Master Plan - SHP News, Spring 2005: “Small Hydropower – An important renewable Energy source for rural electrification in Nigeria”. Information about the small scale HPPs around the Jos Plateau (Nigeria) - Small Hydropower Projects in Nigeria, Yekinni et al., IJRRAS 22(1), 1/2015 - Website Guinea: http://www.sieguinee-dne.org/index.php/cartographie.html - Map of hydroelectric powerplants in Burkina Faso - World Small Hydropower Development Report 213 - Ghana information Main Power Generation Excel table provided by ECREEE - International Water Power & Dam Construction, Yearbook 2012, table “Dams & hydro plants”. - SE4ALL database by Mr. Pascal Habay - Additional sources: Many individual pieces of information were collected from HPP design documents, research reports, reports by governmental authorities and non-governmental organizations, corporate communiques and reports, newspaper articles etc. 2. Existence and location of the facilities were checked with the aid of satellite imagery. When a location was verified, the exact coordinates were taken from the corresponding point on the river network (GIS vector layer derived from Hydrosheds). 3. For all existing HPPs (operational HPPs and HPPs under construction and under refurbishment), existing information was compared and cross-checked and the most plausible values included in the attribute table. At several HPPs different data sources listed different values e.g. for the installed capacity or dam height. For planned, proposed and identified HPPs, the information from ECREEE and SE4ALL databases was adopted without further investigation

The layer provides quantitative information about the inhabitants main points in the different countries for the ECOWAS region

This dataset was generated using GIS methods to estimate technical potential for solar electricity generation in rural areas of ECOWAS region. Technical potential of solar generation in a chosen area may be defined as the amount of the total yearly solar radiation available in that area, taking into account existing geographical constraints, ("suitability maps") that can be converted into electricity given the available solar power technologies. Technical potentials in GWh per year per cell at 1km resolution have been calculated by multiplying DNI (or GHI) for the technical parameters (performance, efficiency) related to CSP or PV, and for the available area. The available area was estimated using for: - CSP (grid connected) only cells with land suitability score > 302 (5% of total cells) - PV (grid connected) only cells with land suitability score > 299 (5% of total cells) - PV (off grid) only cells with land suitability score > 255 (5% of total cells)

The data provides information about the development of the Gas Pipeline project for West Africa, including the gas station at each Member state. Data was compiled by ECREEE from the West African Gas Pipeline Company’s (WAPCO).

The Global Environmental Facility Strategic Program for West Africa (GEF-SPWA), The ECOWAS Renewable Energy Facility (EREF) for Peri-urban and Rural Areas, The ECOWAS Renewable Energy Investment Initiative (EREI), The ECREEE projects and the non-initiative projects consist on a series of Investment Promotion Projects for the renewable energy development in the ECOWAS region

Data provides information about novel potential bio-energy crops which can or could be grown and processed in the future in the 15 ECOWAS countries. The project “Regional potential assessment of novel bio energy crops in fifteen ECOWAS countries” was started by the different project partners (ECREEE, UNIDO and QUINVITA) based on the need to make an overall assessment of a series of novel potential bio energy crops which can or could be grown and processed in the future in the 15 ECOWAS countries. This project fits in a broader strategic analysis of alternative energy needs and production, the key mandate of the mainfunding partner in the project, ECREEE. The project partners deliberately excluded conventional “bio energy” crops like sugarcane, oil palm, maize or sunflower as target crops, since they believed a sufficient knowledge base on the growing and processing crops was available globally and in the region. The novel bio energy crops chosen as targets for the study are a selection of crops for which either the agricultural knowledge is still limited and/or the use of the crop as an energy source is relatively new. The project team realizes that the list of selected crops is not an exhaustive list of potential bio energy crops and other novel crops may have a potential in the region. The project will develop a methodology that can be followed in the future for analyzing the potential of other crops and does not want to exclude this analysis in the future. The crops that have been selected for analysis in this project are: False Flax (Camelina sativa), Crambe (Crambe abyssinica), Cassava (Manihot esculenta), Castor bean (Ricinus communis), Cashew (Anacardium occidentale), Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), Jatropha curcas and sweet sorghum (sweet version of Sorghum bicolor).

The Africa land cover map is a regional component of the GLC2000 exercise, conceived and coordinated by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. From the Africa land cover map, which is a regional component of the GLC2000 exercise, conceived and coordinated by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. The GLC2000 maps are based on daily observations made from 1st November 1999 to 31st December 2000 by the VEGETATION sensor on the SPOT 4 satellite. Legend- definition of the Gray index value: -11: post-flooding or irrigated croplands -14: rainfed croplands -20: mosaic cropland (50-70%) / Vegetation (grassland, shrubland, forest) (20-50%) -30: mosaic vegetation (grassland, shrubland, forest) (50-70%) / cropland (20-50%) -40: closed to open (>15%) broadleaved evergreen and/or semi-deciduous forest (>5m) -50: closed (>40%) broadleaved deciduous forest (>5m) -60: open (15-40%) broadleaved deciduous forest (>5m) -70: closed (>40%) needleleaved evergreen forest (5m) -90: open (15-40%) needleleaved deciduous or evergreen forest (5m) -100: closed to open (>15%) mixed broadleaved and needleleaved forest (>5m) -110: mosaic forest / shrubland (50-70%) / grassland (20-50%) -120: mosaic grassland (50-70%) / forest/shrubland (20-50%) -130: closed to open (>15%) shrubland (<5m) -140: closed to open (>15%) grassland -150: sparse (>15%) vegetation (woody vegetation, shrubs, grassland) -160: closed (>40) broadleaved forest regularly flooded- fresh water -170: closed (>40%) broadleaved semi-deciduous and/or evergreen forest regularly flooded- saline water -180: closed to open (>15%) vegetation (grassland, shrubland, woody vegetation) on regularly flooded or waterlogged soil- fresh, brackish or saline water -190: artificial surfaces and associated areas (urban areas >50%) -200: bare areas -210: water bodies -220: permanent snow and ice

The resource was developed by CENER (The National Renewable Energy Center, Spain) for ECREEE. High resolution data of 1km x 1km developed using Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model from hourly meteorological weather files of over 10 years. Dataset is provided in raster format (.geotiff) at a resolution of 1 km. It ranges from 1200 to 2800 KWh/m2/year. Around 87% of the total surface of the ECOWAS region has long term annual DNI values greater than 1800 KWh/m2.

The suitability maps, contain information on locations suitable for installation of the respective wind electricity generation systems in accordance with the restrictive criteria adopted. Locations are evaluated according to their suitability for onshore wind systems deployment according to topographical, legal, and social constraints, and well as factors that could facilitate or impede wind generation development. The present study focus exclusively on land suitability for the installation of onshore wind turbine and wind farm. The study is conducted on a regional scale. The results can be used for identification of potential areas of interest for solar generation deployment, and as a support for integration between electricity grid expansion and off-grid electrification policies. Grid connected installations - practical scenario: Installation connected to the electrical grid, ease of installation maximized