Mali has been putting lot of effort to commission its first PV plant connected to the national grid, and the country is closer to achieve this milestone, thus contributing to achieving the 2020 national targets on renewable energy installed capacity.
The Government of the country recently provided close to $52 million for the construction of Sikasso PV plant of 50MW of installed capacty, that will be located in the south-east of the country, near the border with Burkina Faso.
PowerPro was awarded to built the solar plant as part of a public-private partnership (PPP). The company was selected as a provisional beneficiary of the concession for an amount of approximately CFA 28.87 billion (US 49.7 million). PowerPro was selected to install the power plant in a BOOT (Build, Own, Operate, Transfer).
Sikasso solar is expected to have an installed capacity of 50MW. The government committed to purchase the power produced by the plant, and signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with PowerPro. The national utility, Énergie du Mali (EDM), will purchase energy for 28 years. The power plant will be built in two phases, being 29.6MW the installed capacity at the end of the first phase.
The Malian Government expects that the project will strengthen the production capacity of the country’s interconnected grid network to reduce the average cost of electricity, while improving the quality of public electricity services.
On the financial side, the government has ratified an agreement signed on February 26, 2019 with the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank subsidiary that promised to make available a loan of 52 million euros for the implementation of this project. IDA’s action is part of the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Access Project. The initiative will focus more on the development of renewable energy projects, including solar energy. The country is multiplying initiatives to promote this energy source, and recently, it launched the Hybrid Rural Electrification Systems (HRES) project to provide electricity to 50 communities with an investment of $49 million.
