Technology group Wärtsilä will deliver a 15 MWp solar PV power plant to Essakane Solar SAS in Burkina Faso. The solar PV plant will be constructed next to a 55 MW Wärtsilä power plant presently operating on heavy fuel oil.
The solar PV project and the engine power project will be organized and run in synchronization, therefore establishing the biggest engine-solar PV hybrid power plant in Africa.
Wärtsilä’s scope covers the engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) for the solar PV power plant, as well as the control system for the hybrid plant.
The power plant is planned to be active in late 2017. The order is reserved for the first quarter of 2017.
Essakane Solar SAS which is 10% retained by its development partner African Energy Management Platform (AEMP)and 90% owned by global independent power producer EREN Renewable Energy (EREN) will run the solar PV plant and vend the energy to IAMGOLD’s Essakane Mine.
The off-grid gold mine, situated 330 kilometres northeast of the Burkina Faso’s capital city, Ouagadougou, produces roughly 400,000 ounces of gold annually. Dependable and maintainable 24- hour energy is a necessity for an off-grid mine location like this.
“This scheme represents a huge advancement in the industry,” explains Christophe Fleurence, Vice President, Business Development for Africa, at EREN. These innovative solutions will let energy intensive manufacturers to come in an epoch of more climate-friendly manoeuvres progress business and upsurge resilience to oil price variation.
“EREN chose Wärtsilä for its commendable track record in EPC projects in Africa and their devotion to design, deliver and support a consistent hybrid solution like this,” continues Christophe Fleurence.
With this project Wärtsilä will have more than 6800 MW of installed capacity on the African continent. Universally, Wärtsilä’s installed base is more than 63 GW in 176 nations.
Wärtsilä is a worldwide leader in full lifecycle power solutions for the marine and energy markets.
