Bamako – A photovoltaic solar plant of 33 megawatts (MW) will be built in Segou, Mali town located 240 km northeast of the capital, Bamako, said official source .
An agreement on the realization of this project, whose cost amounts to 33.2 billion FCFA (about US $ 55 million) was signed Thursday in Bamako, the Malian government, the International Finance Corporation (IFC, affiliate of the World Bank), the Norwegian company Scatec Solar and Africa Power 1, a local developer.
The construction period is 12 months, revealed the Malian Minister of Energy and Water, Mamadou Keita Frankaly, advising that the solar plant will produce future Segou an annual average amount of energy estimated at 57 GWh on a 25-year period.
“This important project (…) is to increase energy supply and secure the electrical service to ensure the best living conditions and the Malian Malian and our businesses,” he added.
According to the Malian Minister of Economy and Finance, Mamadou Igor Diarra is “a center of importance ever conducted in Africa’s western region.”
The Mali will build “the biggest power plant connected to the network throughout the sub-region”, said, for his part, director of Africa Powr 1 and winner of Einstein Solar World Prize 2014, Ibrahim Togola.
The project is funded “to 45pc through senior debt” (traditional bank loan) to 30pc by a concessional loan of an investment climate fund (“Climate Investment Fund”) managed by the World Bank and “the remaining 25pc will be provided in equity by partners” of the initiative, says one.
In May 2014, the Malian government had reported an electricity production shortfall having “reached the exceptional level of 111 megawatts in 2013”.
In Mali, where electricity generation consists of hydro, fossil and solar (0,3pc), the electrification rate of the country is low with 27,1pc of the population (over 16 million) who had access to electricity in 2010.
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