The government of Togo announced that construction has started on the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed solar power plant in the Blitta region, in the central part of the country.
The 50 MW solar park is expected to generate nearly 90,255 GWh per year and to require an investment of approximately 20 billion FCFA (around €30 million), part of which is being provided by the Abu Dhabi Fund for the Development.
Developed by the UAE-based company Amea Power, the facility will sell electricity to the Togo Electric Power Company (CEET) under a 25-year PPA.
The project is part of a 90 MW solar project pipeline that the government hopes to build with the support of the International Financial Corporation (IFC), member of the World Bank group.
If implemented, these new projects will be the first utility-scale solar developments in the African country, which so far has mostly been rural electrification solar projects.
Togo wants to reach energy independence by 2030, in particular by developing solar projects. The country, which joined the Scaling Solar program in July 2019, launched in early January a first tender for the construction of two photovoltaic power plants with a capacity of up to 80 MW.
Togo’s 7.5 million people experience frequent energy shortages in a nation in which only 28% of people have access to electricity.
