The construction works on the Nagréongo solar power plant in the Oubritenga province of Burkina Faso have begun following the official launch of the project by the country’s Ministry of Energy. The project will be executed by GreenYellow, the renewable energy unit of France’s Casino Group in partnership with Africa Energy Coopération (AEC) which is a multi-donor programme that supports the development of markets for renewable energy in Africa, within a period of 1 year.
The scope of the work includes the installation of 70,000 photovoltaic solar panels, inverters, step-up transformers, as well as the construction of support infrastructures such as maintenance buildings, a control room, and offices. GreenYellow and its partner will also construct a 21 kilometer overhead (33 kV) transmission line for transmitting of production to the nearest substation which is situated in Ziniaré.
The project is expected to cost about US$ 30m made available by Green Yellow with its local partner backed up by the support of donors. Upon completion, its production will be sold to Société Nationale d’électricité du Burkina Faso which is the national electricity company of Burkina Faso for a period of 25 years under the recently concluded electricity power purchase agreement.
In addition to providing 50 GWh of electricity per year the solar PV power plant will also avoid the emission of 27,500 tonnes of CO2 over the same period.
Social and environmental responsibility
On the sidelines of the groundbreaking ceremony of the Nagréongo solar power plant project, the developer signed a protocol on its social and environmental responsibility (SER), and also presented the community actions already carried out around the project area. These actions include the installation of solar street lamps at the Nagréongo health and social promotion Centre (CSPs), at the departmental high school, and along the main market of the municipality.