* Extra capacity due in place before Feb 2012 election
* Total cost of project is ${esc.dollar}75 mln - document
* Wade urges new rules to prioritise solar power
(Adds Wade on solar power, update on Eurobond)
By Diadie Ba
DAKAR, May 6 (Reuters) - Senegal is paying ${esc.dollar}75 million to rent power from a U.S. energy firm to help it end electricity cuts that have triggered street protests and are weighing on economic growth, according to a document seen by Reuters.
Separately, President Abdoulaye Wade called on Friday for reforms requiring new buildings to source 60 percent of their energy from solar power, an ambitious goal in a country with no real renewable energy sector despite ample sun, wind and waves.
Years of poor management and investment have left the West African state with one of the world's most inefficient power sectors, based largely on diesel-run generators.
With state utility Senelec close to bankruptcy and struggling to pay its fuel bills, load-shedding has led to power cuts of up to 30 hours at a time, sparking anger at Wade's government ahead of a February 2012 election.
Wade is seeking to alleviate the problem by renting 150 megawatts of additional capacity from U.S.-based APR Energy LLC. A summary of the contract obtained by Reuters showed the first additional capacity should be in place within two months.
"The total cost of the project, including the purchase of equipment which are due to be transferred to Senelec, amounts to 36.25 billion CFA francs (${esc.dollar}74.95 million)," according to the contract summary.
The first 20 MW is due within 60 days of the contract taking effect, with the full 150 MW operational within 167 days -- a timetable which if respected means the extra power would be fully in place just weeks before the election.
A 50 MW installation will be rented for 16 months and a 100 MW facility will be rented for 12 months, according to the document.
Jacksonville-based APR Energy issued a statement confirming that it had been awarded a contract to supply a total of 150 MW of capacity but declined comment on the value of the contract or the target dates for completion.
Local officials estimate the crisis is costing the country about 2 percentage points of growth a year -- about half the overall rate predicted for 2011. The International Monetary Fund warned after a visit last month that "persistent electricity supply problems" remained a downside risk to the economy.
SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT
Investors are watching to see whether Wade can solve the power problem as a gauge of his chances of re-election. It will also be a factor in whether they buy Senegal's newly launched ${esc.dollar}500 million 8.75 percent Eurobond, which is due to replace the ${esc.dollar}200 million bond <SN047485975=RRPS> launched in 2009. [ID:nLDE7451FM]
Senegal's installed 477 MW of capacity would just about allow it to cover the country's energy needs if all of it was working. However, the aid-reliant state at present can only afford to keep 70 percent up and running at any one time.
Since Japan's nuclear disaster, Wade has distanced himself from previous suggestions Senegal could turn to nuclear fuel in the future alongside a planned migration towards more coal use.
However, in a surprise announcement, Wade's government said on Friday he had instructed it to reform the urban code to require new buildings to derive 60 percent of their fuel needs from solar power, with carbon-based energy capped at 40 percent.
The Senegalese chapter of anti-graft watchdog Transparency International Forum Civil said such a measure would require the current Senelec monopoly on energy provision to be broken up.
"Urban populations have been crying out for solar power for years," Forum Civil's Mohamadou Mbodj told Reuters.
"But this must be put to a broad consultation of the people and be carried out in full transparency," he said. (Writing and additional reporting by Mark John; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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