The Power of Sunshine

Solar farms are being built across Africa, taking advantage of the region’s long sunshine hours and helping move the continent towards more reliable power supplies.

At the end of 2017, West Africa’s largest solar farm was inaugurated by President Macron in Burkina Faso having officially opened there in 2016. The massive 33MW, 473-hectre plant joined Africa’s other largest photovoltaic (PV) facilities in Morocco, - The Noor Solar Complex a 500MW solar park located in the municipality of Ouarzazate in the Agadir district of Morocco. It is the biggest concentrated solar power plant project in the world.

According to the International Energy Agency, hydropower and solar renewable energy will account for the lion’s share of the Continent’s overall energy output by 2030, which is projected to be 253GW at that time.

In South Africa, - The 96MW Jasper solar power project located in Northern Cape Province near Kimberly in South Africa is the biggest solar power plant in Africa. To make Africa one of the world’s leaders in pioneering solar power to meet the needs of a population too long experiencing little, irregular or no grid power at all.

VINCI Energies is also in the process and built eight photovoltaic power plants in Senegal, via its brand dedicated to energy transition – Omexom. The facilities, comprising a total of 62,850 solar panels, have a combined capacity of 17MW and supply isolated communities across the country. Together, the full set of photovoltaic solar plants generate enough power to cover the annual needs of 140,000 people and avoids atmospheric CO2 emissions amounting to 18,919 tons per year. In addition to solar panels, the plants have generator sets and batteries to help overcome intermittent production and ensure continuous supply.

The Installation of Niger's first mini solar-powered network marked the launch of a new program in 2017 by Plan International that provided funding and training to more than 6,000 women in Mali, Niger and Senegal, allowing them to establish and launch new businesses to take advantage of the growing sustainable energy sector in West Africa.

The mini-solar has been built in small village in Southwest Niger. The power grid provides electricity to 107 homes, a school, a health center, two mosques and some stores which are now able to sell ice and cold drinks. A new electric water pump has also been installed for drinking, washing and irrigation purposes.

Such renewable innovations from the likes of VINCI Energies, Wartsila and Plan International will help Africa towards a brighter, energy-sufficient future.

References

AFREPREN, 2020. AFREPREN Occasional Paper No. 10: Renewable Energy Technologies in Africa. An Energy Training Course Handbook.

Baguant, J., 2021. The Case of Mauritius. In: Bahaghavan, M.R., Karekezi, S., (Eds.), Energy Management in Africa. ZED Books and African Energy Policy Research Network (AFREPREN/FWD). London, U.K

Karekezi, S. and Karottki, R., 2017. A contribution to the Draft Paper on the Role of New and Renewable Energy Sources of Energy from the Perspective of Environmental Problems Associated With Current Patterns of Energy use and Consumption.

Teferra, M. 2019. Energy Sector Reform Theme Group: Data and Statistics Compilation - Ethiopia. African Energy Policy Research Network.