The government of Burundi has given its approval for the expansion of the 7.5 MWp Mubuga solar photovoltaic park, located near the capital Gitega. The plant, built under a public-private partnership (PPP), should see its capacity doubled in the coming months.
Burundi is betting on solar photovoltaic energy to increase its installed capacity. Evariste Ndayishimiye reaffirmed this recently during his visit to Mubuga. The President of the Republic of Burundi went to this village near the capital Gitega to visit the largest solar power plant in the country in the company of several foreign diplomats, including the ambassadors of the United States of America and the Netherlands.
S.E @GeneralNeva a procédé à l’inauguration officielle de la Centrale solaire de Mubuga, fruit d’un partenariat de GigaWatt Global et l’Etat du #Burundi; dont la capacité générée est de 7,5MW. Le Chef de l’Etat a salué «un véritable accélérateur du développement socio-économique» pic.twitter.com/kvyTjkpymX
— Ntare Rushatsi House (@NtareHouse) May 9, 2023
During the visit, President Evariste Ndayishimiye gave his approval for the expansion of the Mubuga solar power plant. The park, which has a capacity of 7.5 MWp, has been in operation since May 2021. The plant was built under a public-private partnership (PPP) signed between the government of Burundi and Gigawatt Global. The renewable energy producer based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, awarded the construction (EPC) of the plant to the French company Voltalia.
Electricity for productive use
With a capacity of 7.5 MWp, the Mubuga solar power plant supplies up to 10% of Burundi’s electricity, according to Gigawatt Global. The Dutch independent power producer (IPP) also estimates that the plant is capable of supplying 87,600 Burundians. This is the first successful project by an IPP in Burundi so far. It also represents the largest international private investment in the electricity sector in the East African country for almost 30 years.
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Gigawatt Global Burundi, the local subsidiary of Gigawatt Global, feeds the plant’s output into Burundi’s national power grid under the terms of a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Régie de Production et Distribution d’Eau et d’Électricité (REGIDESO). “Thanks to this solar field, and my agreement to double its size, we benefit from increased energy security that allows us to run agro-industries reliably,” said President Évariste Ndayishimiye.
In the first phase of the Mubuga solar project, Gigawatt Global was supported by several financial partners, including the investment company Inspired Evolution, the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP), the US Corporation for International Development Finance (DFC), etc.
Jean Marie Takouleu
