Norwegian solar power company Scatec Solar is to build, own and operate the first utility-scale solar power plant in West Africa.
Scatec has signed an agreement for the purpose with Ministry of Energy and Water, Mali, and the state-run utility Electricité du Mali (EDM).
The 33-megawatt project is to be located close to the ancient city of Segou in southeast Mali. It is being developed in partnership with IFC InfraVentures, World Bank’s project development fund, and the local developer Africa Power 1, the company has reported in a statement.
Scatec will own 50 percent stakes in the project while IFC InfraVentures will hold 32.5 percent. Africa Power 1 will hold 17.5 percent stake in the project.
The project is expected to take $58 million to complete. Forty-five percent of the cost, about $25 million, is to be met through senior project finance debt to be arranged by IFC InfraVentures.
Thirty percent of the capital expenditure will be met from World Bank’s Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Program in Low Income Countries, a targeted program of the Strategic Climate Fund — one of two funds within the Climate Investment Funds framework.
The remaining 25 percent of funding is to be provided as equity by the project partners. Financing of the project is expected to be closed by the end of this year.
Besides construction of the project Scatec will also undertake maintenance services once the plant is commissioned.
Power from the project will be evacuated by EDM under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) it has signed with Segou Solaire, the local project company of Scatec.
Along with the PPA, Scatec has also signed a concession contract with the government of Mali, which licenses Segou Solaire to operate.
Annual production from the 33-MW solar power plant is estimated to be 60,000 Megawatts hour (MWh).
Comprised of 130,000 ground-mounted, fixed-tilt photovoltaic (PV) modules, the project will produce energy equivalent to five percent of the total electricity consumption of Mali. In other terms, the peak output would be adequate to meet the average electricity needs of 60,000 Malian households.
Ajith Kumar S