Cote d'Ivoire

pv magazine caught up with the chief exec of the pay-as-you-go solar home system provider to get his thoughts on the claim mini and microgrid business models don’t stack up and the suggestion government-driven utility scale solar should light the way in the sub-Saharan marketplace.

This time, the countries revealing their first floating PV plans are Albania and the Ivory Cost. In the first, a 12.9 MW plant is being proposed by local hydropower producer KESH, while in the second, the local government has secured funds for what it claims will be Africa’s first floating PV array.

According to the agency, a mimimum of 8 GW of solar will be deployed across the 15 countries that comprise the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) by the end of the next decade. Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire will lead the future growth of PV in the region.

The project is expected to cost approximately 47.2 billion CFA (around $81.5 million), and to have an annual production capacity of 118 GWh.

Funds totaling €36.7 million have been awarded by Germany’s development bank KfW and the European Union. The project is set to be located in Boundiali, in the northern part of the Sub-Saharan country.

Mini-grid solutions are becoming more popular to deliver electricity to rural areas. There are 1 billion people worldwide without access to electricity and off-grid solutions could be the cheapest and easiest solution for about 70% of them. It is estimated the market in the segment will be worth $64 billion by 2030.

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

The French utility will now partner with U.S.-based Off Grid Electric in Ghana.

The Moroccan developer will construct the plant as an Independent Power Producer (IPP). The facility will be located in the north of the country.

The California-based provider of off-grid solar power in Africa rounded off an excellent 2016 for the company with a further $7.5 million in debt financing and a partnership with Rwanda’s national utility company, off the back of further expansion plans across Africa.