The government of Burkina Faso through the national power utility Sonabel, officially Societe Nationale d’electricite du Burkina Faso, has issued a Notice of Invitation to Tender (AOO) calling for bids for the engineering, procurement, and construction of four photovoltaic solar power plants with a total capacity of 9 MWp in three different locations in the West African country.
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Two of the facilities, with a combined capacity of 6 MW, will be developed in Dori, a town in the northeastern region of Burkina Faso while a 2-MW and a 1-MW array will be built in the towns of Diapaga and Gaoua, respectively in the southern region of the country.
Parties interested in the competition which is being held with the assistance of the African Development Bank (AfDB) have until the 5th of October this year to submit their proposals.
Improvement of the electricity distribution network
The overall objective of the new solar energy project is to improve Burkina Faso’s electricity distribution network and reduce the country’s dependence on imported fossil fuels through the increment of renewable energy production.
This new project follows several other renewable energy production projects in Burkina Faso. For example, the solar power plant which is being constructed by Urbasolar in Pâ, a town in the Pâ Department of Balé Province in the south-western region of the West African country.
The project broke grounds in February this year. Upon completion, the installation will be the second-largest solar power plant in Burkina Faso, with a capacity of 33 MWp. It will help illuminate approximately 150,000 households in the country.
Yeleen Rural Electrification Project
Under its 2025 broader solar program, Yeleen, Burkina Faso plans to build solar parks that will be connected to the national grid, improve its electricity distribution network and install mini-grids and individual PV systems in rural areas. The AfDB has invested USD 58.1m towards the implementation of the program.
