Burkina Faso

The power plant will sell electricity to Iamgold’s Essakane Mine – an off-grid gold mine located 330 kilometers northeast of Burkina Faso‘s capital city, Ouagadougou.

All of the eight projects, planned for seven different regions, will be awarded a declaration of public utility. The new facilities are expected to improve the country’s power supply, which still relies heavily on fossil fuels and imports.

The country’s largest solar facility was officially inaugurated in the presence of French president Emmanuel Macron. The project was financed by France’s Development Agency (AFD) and the European Union.

The African financial institution plans to help Burkina Faso electrify Northern Dorsal Africa through solar power plants alongside with smaller projects such as solar pumps and lamps in rural areas.

The PV panel manufacturing facility is being built by local company Faso Energy with the support of the country’s government and Spanish equipment provider Mondragon.

The solar farm will be added and synchronized with an existing oil driven power plant. The hybrid power plant will serve a local gold mine, saving 18,500t CO2 emissions annually.

Financing for two new large-scale PV plants, a 33 MW PV plant under construction and small installations indicate the African country embraces solar technology in order to satisfy its electricity needs.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has awarded a grant to Société de Production d’Energie Solaire de Kodéni SAS, a Burkina Faso based solar industry association. The grant will fund feasibility studies for two 17 MW PV plants to be located in the southwest of the country.