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Dubai-based Amea Power has secured funding for the 26.6MW solar PV project from the International Finance Corporation and others.

Political and security conditions may be acutely difficult in the G5 Sahel countries, but a new era beckons for solar projects in the region, symbolised by AfDB approval of a plan to develop 500MW of PV capacity. Sector insiders believe that short-term problems such as rising risk premiums may be offset by the positive medium-to-long-term prospects for the rollout of solar PV across the Sahel, writes Marc Howard

Construction has started at Burkina Faso’s largest solar PV project, the 38MW Kodéni plant, after France’s Africa Ren said on 21 October it had reached financial close on the scheme.

The African Development Bank (AfDB)-led Desert-to-Power (DtP) initiative is gathering momentum with a $150m investment by the Green Climate Fund. The investment is expected to be followed by further commitments from the AfDB to take the Desert to Power G5 Financing Facility – which covers Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger – to $379.6m, to support projects across the supply chain.

French developer Qair and infrastructure investment fund Stoa Infra & Energy on 8 October announced a joint venture platform called Make It Happen In Africa Holding (MIHIA).

Burkina Faso’s pivot to solar power is building up momentum, with four more plants due to hit major milestones in the next few months.

Endeavour Mining expects the 18MWp solar PV power plant at its Houndé gold mine to be commissioned by end-2022, the Cayman Islands-headquartered company told African Energy. Chief executive Sebastien de Montessus said in June that construction had started at the plant.

Demand for commercial and industrial (C&I) power projects is surging, particularly in eastern and southern Africa. In key markets such as South Africa and Kenya, customers have opted for C&I solutions that not only offer cheaper tariffs but also greater reliability than the grid. These imperatives have also prompted a shift to C&I in the West African market, where the sector has seen considerable activity this year although market players still deem it to be ‘early days’.

Quadran Burkina Faso (Zano) has raised a syndicated debt of €20.25m ($24m) for the development, construction, operation and maintenance of a 24MWp solar farm near Tenkodogo, which is expected to cost €25.7m in total.

Investment fund manager Amethis has sold its 22% minority stake in Burkina Faso’s leading liquid petroleum gas (LPG) bottle distributor, Sodigaz APC, to African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM). Sodigaz claims a market share exceeding 60% and distribution network of 2,200 gas resellers. 

The authorities in Burkina Faso have been looking at the potential for a floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) development and  and to combine solar with pumped storage hydro. In 2019, a feasibility study was carried out on a hybrid solar-pumped storage plant on the Sirba River, a tributary of the Niger, in eastern Burkina Faso.

Energy, mines and quarries minister Bachir Ismaël Ouedraogo and economy, finance and development minister Lassané Kabore signed an agreement with World Bank Group country manager Maimouna Fam in mid-July covering financing for a solar rural electrification project (Soleer).

Canada’s Orezone Gold Corporation has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the United States’ Genser Energy, via its Genser Energy Burkina SA subsidiary, for the development of a 39.4MW hybrid off-grid power plant at its Bomboré gold project near Mogtédo in Ganzourgou province, some 85km east of Ouagadougou. Bomboré is the largest undeveloped gold deposit in Burkina Faso.

President Roch Marc Kaboré won 57.9% of the vote to win re-election in November and his government has received strong support for its efforts to overcome multiple insurgencies by groups including a local Daesh franchise, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara and jihadist veteran Iyag Ag Ghali’s Jamaat Nasr Al-Islam Wal Muslimeen (JNIM).

The PIDG group is pushing its credentials as a powerful support for early-stage developments with significant business flow of renewables projects. A solar project in Burkina Faso is the latest beneficiary, writes Marc Howard.