Two Photovoltaic Power Plants Inaugurated in Burkina Faso

Saturday December 16th, 2023 will remain in the history of Burkina Faso. The day saw the inauguration of two major photovoltaic power plants in Kodéni, in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso, in the Hauts-Bassins region, and in Pâ, in the Boucle du Mouhoun region. The construction of these solar power plants marks the government’s firm resolve to reduce the country’s structural deficit in electricity production, and its energy dependency, by producing clean, less expensive energy.

Burkina Faso, which has no large water resources or fossil fuels, has taken the firm decision to do its utmost to exploit one of its main natural resources, namely the sun. The government intends to capitalize on this immense potential to meet the country’s energy needs and, even better, to take advantage of the comparative advantages of photovoltaic solar energy over fossil fuels, particularly thermal energy.

With this in mind, the government has signed public-private partnership contracts with independent power producers for a total capacity of 150 megawatts. The inauguration of the two photovoltaic power plants is the fruit of this government-private sector partnership, resolutely committed to Burkina Faso’s quest for energy independence.

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Inauguration of the Kodéni photovoltaic power plant

The first photovoltaic solar power plant to be officially commissioned is the Kodéni plant in the Hauts-Bassins region. It is the fruit of a partnership between Burkina Faso, the project company Africa REN/Sasu Kodéni Solar and the Société nationale d’électricité du Burkina (Sonabel). With an installed capacity of 38MWp and covering an area of 70 hectares, the Kodéni solar power plant will inject an average of 73 GWh per year into the national interconnected grid, and connect several thousand households to Sonabel’s electricity network. It will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

The solar field consists of 69,608 solar panels of 545/550 Wp, 2,486 strings of 28 solar panels, 150 inverters of 204 kWac each, 5 transformer substations of 6 MW each, 829 tracking system tables. To complete this project, Sonabel had to build a 4 km long connection line to the Kodéni 225/34.5/33 kV substation and install the latest generation equipment in the substation. These investments, financed by Sonabel, cost just over two billion CFA francs.

“This power station will help to improve Sonabel’s financial equilibrium by reducing the overall cost price of the electricity produced, and to boost the national production base, particularly solar power, and the national energy mix by 15% in terms of renewable energies”, said Sonabel’s General Secretary, Ouokana Ganou, who represented the General Manager at the inauguration ceremony for the Kodéni solar power station.

For Mamadou Salif Sow, Managing Director of Africa REN and President of SASU Kodéni Solar, the project is a source of great satisfaction. According to him, the project cost just over 30 billion F CFA, financed by the company and its partners, including the Dutch Development Bank. He thanked the government of Burkina Faso for the trust placed in his company. At the same time, he reiterated the company’s willingness to invest in Burkina Faso. Hence his ambition to double the plant’s capacity, from 38MWp to 76MWp. This will make the plant the largest in the sub-region.

According to Minister Simon Pierre Boussim, the commissioning of these plants marks the government’s firm resolve to absorb the structural deficit in electricity production.
Finding solutions to the country’s energy challenge

According to Minister Simon Pierre Boussim, the commissioning of these plants marks the government’s firm resolve to absorb the structural deficit in electricity production.

Finding solutions to the country’s energy challenge: the importance of photovoltaic power plants

Following the official commissioning of the Kodéni power station, the focus shifted to the Pâ commune power station. For Sonabel’s General Secretary, the official commissioning of this energy infrastructure is a source of satisfaction, as it testifies to the government’s firm commitment to supporting Sonabel in its mission to promote greater access to electrical energy for all fellow citizens.

“The Pâ solar photovoltaic power plant, with an installed capacity of 30 MWp, represents a major step forward in our efforts to achieve this goal, with the added benefit of clean, renewable energy for Burkina Faso,” emphasized Ouokana Ganou.

The plant is the fruit of a public-private partnership between the Burkina Faso government and Urbasolar/Tile Energy SAS. The plant features the following technical specifications: 67,368 bifacial monocrystalline solar panels of 440-445-450 wp, 2,406 strings, 204 inverters of 125 kva each, 5 transformer substations of 5,125 kva each and 802 fixed-system tables. In terms of capacity, the plant will inject an average of 54.15 Gwh per year into the national interconnected grid. It will connect 31,000 households to Sonabel’s power grid, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 32,500 tonnes of Co2 per year. It should be emphasized that the plant is ideally located next to the Pâ substation, to facilitate the evacuation of the energy produced and more easily supply the region’s consumers. The investment cost is estimated at over 19 billion F CFA.

The inauguration of the Pâ and Kodéni photovoltaic power plants is a giant step towards meeting Burkinabè electricity needs. The Pâ and Kodéni solar power plants will boost Sonabel’s solar production to 153 peak megawatts, an increase of 31.37%. For the Minister of Energy, Mines and Quarries, Simon Pierre Boussim, the commissioning of these plants marks the government’s firm resolve to absorb the structural deficit in electricity production and reduce the country’s energy dependency through the production of clean, less expensive energy. “The production of these power plants will contribute to strengthening our solar production base and improving people’s access to electrical energy,” he said.

The inauguration ceremonies of the two photovoltaic power plants were well attended by members of the government, led by Prime Minister Appolinaire Kyelèm de Tambéla; administrative, religious and traditional authorities; and the local population, who turned out in large numbers to express their satisfaction.

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(Featured image by blickpixel via Pixabay)

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First published in lefaso.net. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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