Senegal’s electricity authority Senelec has awarded a €200m contract to France’s Vinci Energies to install 1,350km of high-voltage and very-high-voltage overhead and underground transmission lines.

The project part-financed by France sees Vinci also building eight very-high-voltage transformer stations in the West African country.

The works will last three years and will employ around 1,000 people, Vinci said.

Vinci Energies’ French and Moroccan subsidiaries will train local teams.

The company said the system’s grid management system will be able to remotely manage operations and detect defects in the power lines.