InfraCo, Solvéo secure 25-year PPA for solar park in Guinea

Infraco Africa, a unit of U.K.-based Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), and Solveo Energie, a unit of French renewable energy developer Solveo, have secured a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for a large-scale solar project under development in Guinea.

“The PPA follows on from the signing of a Concession Agreement in February 2019,” the two companies said in a joint statement. “The 40MWac Khoumagueli Solar project will be the West African country's first grid-connected solar photovoltaic plant and is designed to complement power generation at the nearby 75 MW Garafiri hydroelectric plant.”

The facility will sell power to local utility Electricité de Guinée (EDG) at an undisclosed price.

The project is likely the first phase of an 88 MW PV project announced by the French government in April 2017. The French authorities said at the time that the project was expected to be built in two 44 MW phases and to be developed by Solveo Energy.

Guinea has had very limited development of solar energy to date. According to the latest figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency, the Sub-Saharan country had only 13 MW of installed solar power at the end of 2020.

Guinea currently has an installed power generation capacity of around 566 MW, most of which comes from hydropower, and an overall access to electricity of around 26%.