Two photovoltaic solar power plants with a capacity of 68MWp were recently inaugurated in the towns of Bobo-Dioulasso and Pâ. Bobo-Dioulasso town is in the commune of Bobo-Dioulasso, Houet Province while Pâ town is in the Pâ Department of Balé Province. Both provinces are in the southwestern region of Burkina Faso.
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The Bobo-Dioulasso photovoltaic solar power plant has a name capacity of 38 MWp while the Pâ photovoltaic solar power plant has a capacity of 30 MWp. The two power plants will inject a total of 127.15 GWh per year into Burkina’s national interconnected network. They will also increase the country’s installed solar capacity by 31.37%.
Government commitment to reducing the country’s energy dependence
The construction and delivery of the two solar power plants in Bobo-Dioulasso and Pâ affirm the Burkinabè governments’ commitment to reduce the country’s energy dependence.
Reportedly the government of Burkina Faso is determined to absorb the structural deficit in electrical energy production and reduce the country’s energy dependence through the production of clean and affordable energy.
Since the country does not have large water resources or fossil energy, the government is banking on its main natural resource, the sun, to satisfy the country’s energy needs. The government is also taking advantage of the comparative advantages offered by photovoltaic solar energy compared to fossil fuels, particularly thermal energy.
Mode of implementation of the two solar power plants in Bobo-Dioulasso and Pâ
To exploit this solar potential, the government has thus signed public-private partnership contracts with independent electricity producers with a cumulative power of 150 megawatts.
The inauguration of the two solar power plants in Bobo-Dioulasso and Pâ is the result of this government-private sector partnership, resolutely committed to the quest for energy independence in Burkina Faso.
