Mali

UAE-based independent power producer Phanes Group and Welink Energy will build a 93 MW solar power plant in the south of the country.

The latest PV installation in West Africa by France’s Akuo features an agricultural and social component on a 5-hectare plot of land next to the project site.

The solar-plus-storage facility will be linked to the mine’s existing thermal power plant and is expected to reduce the cost of the kilowatts currently consumed by its operations by $0.04. The project developer is British oil provider Vivo Energy.

The move represents a step forward in the implementation of the National Action Plan for Renewable Energy (Paner), through which the West African nation aims to install 1.42 GW of renewable energy by 2030.

The Economic Community of West African States should prioritize the development of solar PV to meet surging energy demand over the next 30 years, according to a newly published study.

Mali is set to host one of the world’s largest off grid solar+storage projects, as a 30 MW solar plant will soon be coupled with a 17MW/15MWh storage facility to power the Fekola gold mine. Finland’s Wärtsilä will supply the battery.

Two German companies will develop one of the largest off-grid PV and storage projects to date. The low cost of the technology and expense of conventional generators is likely to see the hybrid plant recover its costs in three to seven years.

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 solar home system company, which enables customers to pay their solar electricity bill through an app on their mobile on a PAYG basis, has conducted a monumental funding round as it eyes expansion to become a fully-fledged pay-as-you-go utility.

The country’s agency for rural electrification is seeking proposals for a 1.3 MW solar project and a 1.5 MW/2 MWh storage system.