After Blitta, a new photovoltaic solar power plant is to be built in Dapaong in the Savanes region of Togo. The project is the subject of an international call for tenders issued by the Respite Project Regional Coordination Unit (URC) based in Monrovia, Liberia. The call for expressions of interest, which closes on 4 June 2024, covers the design, supply and installation of the solar power plant, which will have a capacity of 25 MWp.
The plant will be backed up by a 40 MWh battery electricity storage system. The company selected is expected to build the energy infrastructure over a period of between twelve and sixteen months. Together with an evacuation line, the solar park will provide electricity to at least 60 localities in the Savanes region.
Read also- WEST AFRICA: IDA finances $311m for clean energy deployment
The project is being financed to the tune of 60 million dollars by the International Development Association (IDA), the concessional arm of the World Bank Group. The funding has been allocated as part of the Regional Solar Emergency Response Project (RESPITE), for which the World Bank has released $311 million in 2023, and which will be deployed in four sub-Saharan African countries.
In addition to Togo, the World Bank’s Respite programme is being implemented in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Chad. The regional project will harness around 106 MWp of solar photovoltaic energy with battery-based electricity storage systems. It should also enable the expansion of 41 MW of hydroelectric capacity, as well as the distribution and transmission of electricity in the four countries. The call for tenders launched for the Togolese phase marks a milestone in the implementation of Respite.
Jean Marie Takouleu