The Nagreongo Solar Power Station, also Nagréongo Solar Power Station, is a

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 ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

. The solar farm, which was commissioned in July 2022, was developed by the French IPP, ''GreenYellow'', a subsidiary of the Casino Group. The energy generated here is sold to the Burkinabe electricity utility company SONABEL, ( Société Nationale d'électricité du Burkina Faso) (English: National Electricity Company of Burkina Faso), 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 ...

(PPA).

Location

The power station is located on , in the town of Nagréongo, in

Oubritenga Province Oubritenga is one of the 45 provinces of Burkina Faso, located in its Plateau-Central Region. Its capital is Ziniaré. Departments Oubritenga is divided into 7 departments: * Absouya * Dapélogo * Loumbila * Nagréongo * Ourgou-Manèga * Z ...

, in the

Plateau-Central Region Plateau-Central is one of Burkina Faso's 13 administrative regions. It was created on 2 July 2001 and had an population of 977,510 in 2019. The region's capital is Ziniaré. Three provinces make up the region—Ganzourgou, Kourwéogo, and Oubri ...

of the country. Nagréongo is located approximately , by road southeast of

Ziniaré Ziniaré is a town located in the province of Oubritenga in Burkina Faso. It is the capital of Oubritenga Province and Plateau-Central Region Plateau-Central is one of Burkina Faso's 13 administrative regions. It was created on 2 July 2001 and ...

, the provincial headquarters. This is approximately , northeast of

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural, and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's n ...

, the capital and largest city in Burkina Faso.

Overview

Burkina Faso's generation capacity is reported as 357 megawatts, as of October 2021. This power station is expected to add 30 megawatts, equivalent to 50 GWh of green renewable energy, also avoiding the emission of 27,500 tons of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

equivalent annually. The development involved the installation of 70,000 photo voltaic solar panels, together with transformers and inverters. Other infrastructure developments include maintenance buildings, a control room, offices and an electric switchyard. At the switchyard, the energy is stepped up to 33 kiloVolts (33kV) and transmitted via overhead transmission lines for , to a SONABEL substation in Ziniaré, where the electricity enters the national grid. The power station achieved commercial commissioning on 7 July 2022.

Developers

The power station was developed by a consortium led by GreenYellow, a French IPP and subsidiary of the Casino Group, in partnership with a group of financiers and donors referred to as the ''Africa Energy Coopération'' (AEC). The developer/owners of the power station formed a special purpose adhoc vehicle company to own and operate the solar farm. The SPV is called ''Société de production d’énergie solaire de Ouagadougou SAS'' (SPES Ouagadougou). A 25-year power purchase agreement was executed between SPES Ouagadougou and SONABEL.

Funding

The construction costs are reported as US$30 million. The table below, outlines the funding sources for this renewable energy project. The

Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is an international financial institution which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement guarantees. These guarantees help investors protect foreign direct investments against ...

, a member of the World Bank Group provided risk insurance for the owner/developers, for the first 20 years of the power plant's operation at a price of US$4.5 million.

References

External links