Kita PV power plant in Mali will be commissioned at the beginning of 2020

View of Kita PV power plant. Source: Google Maps, image from April 2019

The PV power plant of Kita, being built by Akuo Energy, will be commissioned at the beginning of 2020 according to the Government of the country. With an installed capacity of 50 MW, it will set the new record in terms of renewable energy solar installed capacity for a PV power plant in the ECOWAS region. Mali, which has been developing succesful rural electrification programs in the last years, will start also producing on grid renewable energy in a large scale.

The connection could be effective in December 2019, followed by testing and commissioning of the Kita solar plant in February 2020.

The solar plant will cover an area of 100 hectares. All 187,000 solar panels and inverters will produce 50 MW, an electric power capable of supplying more than 91,700 households of the country. The Kita Solar Park is also expected to prevent emissions of more than 51,700 tonnes of CO2 per year. The project is developed by the French company Akuo Energy under the build-own-operate and transfer (Boot) model, a specific form of public-private partnership.

The Independent Power Producer (IPP) has set up the Akuo Kita Solar (AKS) ad hoc company. It is the company that negotiated and signed a 30-year electricity purchase agreement (PPA) with Electricité du Mali (EDM), the national utility.

The project was funded by Akuo Energy, with the help of  the West African Development Bank (BOAD) and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) managed by Investec Asset Management. The Dutch Development Finance Corporation (FMO), the National Bank for Agricultural Development of Mali (BNDA), Green Africa Power (GAP) and GuarantCo also participated in the financing of the project.

Source: https://tafcw.blogspot.com/2019/10/mali-akuo-energy-connectera-la-centrale.html

More information: HERE

Observatory Country: 

Mali