The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) has granted €29m for the construction of a 30MW solar farm in Burkina Faso, the company announced on the 15th of March. The renewable energy facility will be located some 250km southeast of the nation’s capital city of Ouagadougou, near the town of Pâ. The plant is scheduled to be completed within 18 months.
The new solar energy plant will supply all the electricity it produces to Burkina Faso’s national power utility, La Société National D’électricité Du Burkina Faso (SONABEL). The plant will be connected to the grid via a 2km cable to a nearby substation and will have a total peak power of 29,967.84 KWp.
EAIF will finance 80% of the capital needed for the construction of the new 30MW facility. The finance is being lended to the project’s developer, Urbasolar SAS. EAIF is the sole lender to the project, providing €29 million of the estimated €35.4 million development cost. Financial close (the transfer of funds from lender to borrower) is expected by the second quarter of the year.
“Harnessing Burkina Faso’s sunshine to improve its future prospects will bring many benefits to the country and make an important contribution to fighting global warming. This project is a perfect example of how EAIF’s public private partnership model can have lasting economic, social and environmental impacts while mobilising private capital and enterprise to create new infrastructure,” said Paromita Chatterjee, an Investment Director at EAIF’s managers, Ninety One.
Urbasolar was selected as the developer for the solar energy plant following a competitive tender process run by SONABEL, the company will build and operate the plant.
Improving energy security in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso has a population of nearly 20 million people, and over 40% of people live below the poverty line. The country has one of the world’s lowest rates of electrification. Because of a shortage of installed energy generation capacity, Burkina Faso needs to import electricity from neighbouring states. Urbanisation, structural changes to the economy and recent strong GDP growth have increased demand for energy.
The country mainly relies on fossil fueled power stations to meet its energy needs. The West African country has embarked on a programme of attracting private capital and expertise to build renewable energy capacity. The Urbasolar project is one of the first of the new green energy plants. Around 280MW is expected to be commissioned over the next three years.
The project will also have a positive socio-economic impact on the country. “In addition to providing green energy, this project also includes a number of other measures such as education regarding solar technology, the provision of study grants and a microfinancing program for local women, as well as support for the healthcare system,” Arnaud Mine, president of Urbasolar and Emmanuel Kaboré, Urbasolar Regional Head – West Africa, said.
EAIF has now supported 20 renewable energy projects across Africa. It has invested US$350 million of loans to private sector developers, bringing Africa 825MW of clean, renewable energy.
