A solar/diesel hybrid power plant is set to be constructed in Niger. This is after the government awarded a consortium consisting of the French company Vergnet and the Indian companies Sterling and Wilson and SNS Solar Power Engineering & Technology to develop the plant.
The power plant will be located in the country’s largest city Agadez. The plant will consist of solar panels linked together by inverters capable of producing 13 MWp and of diesel generators with a capacity of 6 MW.
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Project agreement
The project will additionally include rehabilitation of the electrical network of the city of Agadez whose current current state does not allow the evacuation of electricity to and within the city, as well as the electrification of the neighbouring hamlet of Tibinitene.
According to the agreement, Vergnet, Sterling and Wilson and SNS will operate and maintain the plant for a period of 2 years. The consortium is also expected to provide project management assistance and institutional support to accompany and train engineers and technicians from the electricity company Niger of (Nigelec) in photovoltaic technologies to enable them to operate large-scale solar power plants in the short term.
The project is being funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) and European Union who are each investing US $18m. Upon completion, the hybrid power plant is expected to meet the country’s electricity demand that is largely unsatisfied and also reduce the carbon content of electricity in the northern zone.
Niger was one of the first countries in the world to consider renewable energy technologies to solve its energy needs. It set up the National Solar Energy Centre (Centre National d’Énergie Solaire – CNES), which was originally founded to undertake applied research in various aspects of renewable energies.
