Burkina Faso

A fund backed by the United Nations and the government of Luxembourg is helping companies to provide small solar PV systems and innovative cooking stoves in the economically challenged West African nation.

Illegally re-badged panels were sold on to Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Turkey and even Syria. Italian authorities found 60 tons of panels which will be examined.

Electricity generated by the facility will be sold at $0.08/kWh to national utility Sonabel. Burkina Faso recently adopted a solar-oriented energy policy.

The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development will support half a dozen megawatt scale projects featuring solar in the Caribbean and Africa. In addition to around 42.5 MW of new solar capacity, the fund will also back the development of energy storage, waste-to-energy and biogas facilities.

The lender is providing the funds to support the West African country’s solar ambitions under the bank’s Desert to Power program. Several other European organizations have vowed to back the €137 million Yeleen solar project, which will encompass four sites.

Renewable energy is rapidly being adopted by mining companies as the combination of off-grid power and cheaply available renewables offers a strong business case.

The African Development Bank last year disclosed a plan to install 10 GW of solar in the deserts of the Sahel. A recent summit held in Burkina Faso may have brought the ambitious project a step closer.

The 21st Africa Energy Forum, this year in Lisbon, kicked off yesterday and will run until Friday. The meeting offers an insight into the continent’s energy markets.

State-owned utility Sonabel is seeking proposals for a 20 MW solar power plant in Boulkiemdé province and a 10 MW facility in the Sanmatenga area. Interested developers have time until February 28 to submit project proposals.

The 25 MW project is planned for the town of Benguébougou, in the Korhogo department, in the north of the west African nation.