The Blitta Solar Power Station is an operational

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic e ...

plant in

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

. The power station was developed by ''Amea Power'', an independent power producer (IPP), based in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. The solar farm, which is the largest grid-ready in Togo, is also referred to as Mohamed Bin Zayed Power Station, named after His Highness Sheikh

Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan ( ar, مُحَمّد بِن زَايد آل نَهيَان, Moḥamed bin Zāyed Āl Nahyān; born 11 March 1961), colloquially known by his initials as MBZ, is the third president of the United Arab Emirate ...

, the Crown Prince of

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

. The power station began commercial operations in June 2021.

Location

The power station is located in the settlement of

Blitta Blitta is a prefecture and town located in the Centrale Region of Togo. Blitta has an area of 2,973 miles and there is roughly 200 or more villages in the area. The Blitta prefecture contains the canton (administrative divisions) of Blitta, Lan ...

, in the Centrale Region of Togo, approximately , by road, south of

Sokodé Sokodé is the second largest city in Togo and seat of the Tchaoudjo and Centrale Region in the center of the country, north of Lomé. With a population of 86,500 (2004), currently at around 189,000, the city is situated between the Mo and Mono ...

, the regional capital. This is approximately by road north of

Lomé Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

, the national capital and largest city in the country.

Overview

The power station's installed capacity is 50 megawatts. Its output is sold directly to the government of Togo for integration into the national electricity grid, under a 25-year

power purchase agreement A power purchase agreement (PPA), or electricity power agreement, is a contract between two parties, one which generates electricity (the seller) and one which is looking to purchase electricity (the buyer). The PPA defines all of the commercial te ...

. The solar park will be operated and maintained by Amea Togo Solar, the local subsidiary of Amea Power, the UAE-based IPP that owns the power station. It is expected that the power station will provide electricity to 600,000 homes and 700 small and medium-sized enterprises, in Togo.

Developers

The power station was developed by ''Amea Power'', an independent power producer based in the

. The solar park is operated by ''Amea Togo Solar'', the local subsidiary of the Middle Eastern owners.

Funding and timeline

The table below outlines the sources of funding for the construction of this power station. Construction began in February 2020. Commercial commissioning took place in June 2021.

Expansion

In November 2022, AMEA Power Company, the Dubai-based IPP, secured a US$25 million loan for the purpose of increasing capacity of the power station from 50 MW to 70 MW. In addition a battery storage facility, rated at 4 MWh will be added to the installation, to facilitate power supply after sunset. The EPC contractor for the expansion and energy storage installation is Amea Power's subsidiary, Amea Technical Services. The loan was provided by the ''Abu Dhabi Export Office'' (ADEX), a "financial facility of the

Abu Dhabi Fund for Development The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) is a foreign aid agency established by the government of Abu Dhabi in 1971. The fund provides concessionary loans to fund economic and social development projects. The fund also invests in order to expand ...

(ADFD)".

Other considerations

When fully developed, the 70 MW power station with the energy storage attachment, will become the largest solar power plant in West Africa. At that time it is calculated that the solar farm will meet the electricity needs of "at east 222,000 Togolese households".

References

External links

Works at the Blitta solar power project completed
As of 22 March 2021. {{Authority control Solar power stations in Togo Centrale Region, Togo 2021 establishments in Togo Energy infrastructure completed in 2021