The Ségou solar project in southern Mali is progressing. A power purchase agreement (PPA) has just been signed between the project leader, the Norwegian independent power producer (IPP) Scatec Solar, and the public company Energie du Mali (EDM). The texts were initialled by Terje Pilskog, Director of Scatec Solar West Africa and Boubacar Keïta, Managing Director of EDM.
The signing of the 25-year PPA allows the project to enter its construction phase. Scatec Solar plans to start work in the second quarter of 2020. The project involves the construction of a facility consisting of 104,764 solar panels, mounted on steel piles, and approximately 10 inverter/transformer containers on a single 87-hectare plot of land, 50 of which will be operated for the 33 MWp project. The photovoltaic plant itself will occupy 47 hectares. The rest will consist of a logistics area of about 2.6 hectares, a medical station, etc.
The electricity will be evacuated from the production site via two 33 kV underground lines. It will be integrated into the grid from an EDM substation located 2.8 km from the solar photovoltaic plant. Scatec Solar is developing this project with IFC InfraVentures, a subsidiary of the World Bank, and Africa Power, a local company. The entire project requires an investment of €48.4 million.
To implement the Segou solar project, the consortium will rely on AfDB loans through its large-scale renewable energy development programme, SREP (Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program in Low Income Countries), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank subsidiary responsible for corporate finance and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).
Jean Marie Takouleu