- The government of Benin has approved the construction of four PV power plants with a total capacity of 50MW.
- The projects have been approved by the Council of Ministers, which has authorized an ad hoc commission to lead the selection of independent power producers to build the plants.
- The initiative is supported by the US government and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to foster economic growth in the country.
Benin is a small West African country bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Only 29% of the population has access to electricity.
The government said in a press release that the projects will be developed in the frame of the Millennium Challenge Account-Bénin II (MCA-Benin II) program. The initiative is supported by the US government and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) through a US375 million compact, designed to modernize the West African country’s power sector.
The compact, which is supplemented by a US28 million contribution from the Government of Benin, aims to strengthen the national utility, attract private sector investment, and fund infrastructure investments in electricity distribution as well as off-grid electrification for poor and unserved households.
The country has recently establish an independent electricity regulator with the authority to regulate tariffs, pass a new law encouraging public-private partnerships, and approve a performance plan with measurable targets for the national utility, SBEE (Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique).
Benin’s government added that the projects will be built through private-public partnerships, and that an ad hoc commission will be created for the procurement process of the IPPs. Intec Goba International Energy Consultants are contracted to develop an IPP institutional framework and standard forms of contract as well as the execution of a competitive bidding process. Read more
The four solar power plants will be located in Bohicon (15 MW) in southern Benin, and in Parakou (15 MW), Djougou (10 MW) and Natitingou (10 MW), in the northern part of the country.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
Seraphim has a solar module factory in South Africa servicing the African continent. Read more
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Pic: The Seraphim bifacial module is a new type of PV product, using incidental light
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