The pilot phase of the Project for Development of Electricity Connections (PDCEL) has been launched in Koudougou, in the province of Boulkiemdé in Burkina Faso by the West African country Minister of Energy, Bachir Ismaël Ouédraogo.
This comes after the completion of a similar project in Ouahigouya in the northern region of the country and Kaya, lying northeast of Ouagadougou. In Koudougou, the National Electricity Company of Burkina Faso (Sonabel) plans to connect 6,000 households to the national electricity network through the construction of various facilities such as 16 km of low-voltage lines and 2 km of high-voltage lines and the installation of three transformers with a capacity of 160 kV.
The entire project in this region will cost the national electricity company more than US$ 294,419.
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About the Project for the Development of Electricity Connections (PDCEL)
The Project for the Development of Electricity Connections (PDCEL) is an initiative launched by the Burkinafaso National Electricity Company (SONABEL) back in 2019 with an aim to connect 50,000 new customers to the national electricity grid in the urban areas of Tenkodogo, Ouagadougou, Kaya, Bobo-Dioulasso, Koudougou and Ouahigouya in its pilot phase.
The customers would be connected after paying approximately US$ 5 and the balance of the cost of the connection which amounts to about US$ 358.42 would be gradually retained on their invoices over a maximum period of 5 years.
Ultimately, the project aims to connect 250,000 new customers each year to the grid. The medium-term goal is to move from an electrification rate of less than 30% to at least 45%.
The PDCEL project is also in line with Burkina Faso’s National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES) that aims to connect 1 million Burkinabes to the electricity grid by the end of this year.
