Burkina Faso prepares to export electricity from 2023

Burkina Faso is preparing for a bright future. Despite a low rate of electrification at present, energy projects are multiplying and there is no doubt that the country will have to rely on renewable energies to achieve a destiny now all mapped out: to become a future hub for solar energy in Africa. from West.

Nevertheless, faced with the considerable amount of solar energy soon to be produced in the country, a few questions deserve to be asked: what to do with this electricity? Will it be used for the electrification of the country or for export? What is Burkina Faso's priority?

At present, the country - with an area of ​​274,200 km² - is insufficiently electrified. Last August, the evaluation report of the "Desert to Power" Project - Electrification and Development of Electricity Connections Project (Pedecel) highlighted a national electricity access rate of 22.5% at the end of 2020; by way of comparison, it was 40% on average in the sub-region. It is therefore one of the lowest rates in West Africa. In 2020, the rate of access to electricity in urban areas was 67.4%, compared to 5.3% in rural areas, the objective being to achieve an electrification rate of 90% in rural areas by 2027. urban and 30% in rural areas. In the hope of obtaining universal electrification “by 2030”.

The electrification of Burkina Faso also involves the construction of solar power plants

The country's electrification should mainly be achieved by installing and renovating gas-fired thermal power stations and by building solar power stations, of which we have this week the sketch of the next locations.

To date, the country has two solar power plants, both delivered in 2017. One in Ziga (1.1 MWp) built in cooperation with the Taiwan Embassy, ​​the other in Zagtouli (33.7 MWp) built by the French electrical engineering company Cegelec, a subsidiary of Vinci Energie and the German supplier of photovoltaic panels SolarWorld. The plant is financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Union (EU) to the tune of €47.5 million and should meet the energy consumption of 660,000 people. It could also benefit from a 50 MW extension financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB).

And this is just the beginning in Burkinabè solar development…

In Bobo Dioulasso, a solar power plant serving a strategic location

Indeed, the French company Africa Ren, which specializes in the production and storage of renewable energies in Africa, has just announced the construction of the “Kodeni Solar” solar power plant in the commune of Matourkou, near Bobo-Dioulasso. Once up and running, the power plant will have a total power of 38 MWp and will become the largest solar power plant in operation in the country (pending the construction of the 43.26 MWp Ouagadougou North-West solar power plant and the extension of the central Zagtouli). The plant will be built by the French company Ineo, the main company of Equans, a subsidiary of the Engie group (for some time yet… the Equans company is currently being sold by Engie).

The plant will supply electricity to 115,000 households and should be commissioned in August 2022. With a total cost of €41 million, the project receives financing from various partners, including the private investment fund Métier Sustainable Capital and the Dutch Development Finance Company (FMO) that Africa Ren finds after the implementation of the Senergy 2 solar power plant in Senegal.

Bobo-Dioulasso has a strategic location insofar as the city is the first electrical interconnection point with Côte d'Ivoire, offering significant energy availability and low connection costs. In addition, this location is located near the "North Dorsal", the new power line that connects Burkina Faso to its Malian and Ghanaian neighbors. Thus, the Kodeni Solar plant promotes the decentralization of Burkina Faso and allows the city of Bobo-Dioulasso to become a new strategic door of the country towards Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Mali.

It should be noted that in 2019, six independent electricity producers signed agreements with the Burkinabè government for the construction of solar power plants in Bobo-Dioulasso, Pâ, Kalzi, Dédougou, Kodeni and in the locality of Zano.

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In Zano, a solar power plant enables development on several scales

It is precisely in the municipality of Zano that Qair, an independent French producer of renewable energies, accompanied by the investment fund Stoa Infra & Energy, has just announced the creation of a new 24 MWp solar power plant. It should be commissioned in the second half of 2022 and will deliver electricity to nearly 75,000 homes, in collaboration with the Burkinabe company Syscom Network.

This new solar power plant is announced as part of the "Make it happen in Africa" ​​initiative (Mihia Holding), a platform for investments in renewable energies (solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, storage, etc.) in Africa and whose first project of the initiative is located in Zano, in the department of Tenkodogo (province of Boulgou). The plant will be located at the intersection of the power lines of the Bagré hydroelectric plant (16 MW) and that of Kompienga (14 MW). Together, the three plants form a 54 MW energy hub that directly supplies Ouagadougou with electricity.

At the same time, Qair international releases funds to promote the local community of Zano. On November 19, 2020, the country director of Qair, Bruno Baritello, announced the annual mobilization of FCFA 26 million (€ 40,000) for the municipality to support local development along five axes: access to energy, increase in agricultural production, marketing of market garden products, improvement of the educational and health offer, social assistance and support for local governance.

A new solar power plant in the province of Bazega

A third solar power plant is announced! The Minister of Energy, Mines and Quarries, Bachir Ismaël Ouédraogo and the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Burkina Faso, Li Jian, signed a memorandum of understanding last week for the construction of a power plant. solar of 4 MWp in the province of Bazega. This plant is a gift from the Chinese State estimated at FCFA 3.4 billion (€ 5.2 million) and should allow 20,000 families to have access to electricity.

Energy exports in sight?

These new and numerous projects should promote the electrification of the country and at the same time allow exports to other ECOWAS States within the framework of the famous Energy Exchange System (WAPP). The new electrical connections with Ghana, Mali and Niger will put an end to the isolation of the Land of Upright Men, which until now was only connected to Côte d'Ivoire.

The country currently has 2 photovoltaic solar power plants in operation with a cumulative power of 35 MWp. At the same time, nearly 15 solar power plant projects are under study and have a total power of 373 MWp, or 407 MWp with the (see: http://u.osmfr.org/m/667037).

However, the cumulative total of solar power plants does not take into account the installation of a potential solar power plant intended for the export of electricity in the region. "We are going to build a sub-regional solar power plant, which will allow Burkina to export electricity", underlined the Minister of Energy, Mines and Quarries, Bachir Ismaël Ouédraogo, to Jeune Afrique last March. This solar power plant would only be erected once the line of the northern backbone was built. Remember that this power line opens up Burkina Faso: it begins in Nigeria and ends in Mali via Niger and Burkina Faso.

WAPP announced this project in 2017. It is a 150 MWp solar park worth $168.7 million according to the World Bank. Last July, the WAPP went so far as to announce the timetable for this project: the auctions for the implementation of the solar park should be launched in the third quarter of 2021 and its official commissioning is scheduled for 2023.

The implementation of a solar park exclusively intended for the export of electricity shows that the problems of national electrification and energy exports are not necessarily linked. However, if the solar park with a power of 150 MWp limits its functions to the export of energy in 2023, what will be the reaction of the Burkinabè who are waiting for electrification? Case to follow.