US $15m loan has been approved by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) to fund the development of a solar project in Togo. Sani Yaya, the Togolese Minister of Economy and Finance affirmed the report and said the loan agreement was signed between the government and Managing Director of the ADFD.
The solar project dubbed Blitta photovoltaic solar power plant will be developed under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) by the UAE-based company Amea Power. Amea Power has already signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Togo Electric Power Company.
Blitta photovoltaic solar power plant
Construction will take place in two phases. Phase one involves construction of construction of a solar photovoltaic power plant with a capacity of 30 MWp. It will be operational by June 2020. This will be followed by the second phase will be construction of an additional 20MWp plant.
Upon completion, the power plan is projected to supply electricity to 600,000 homes and 700 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The solar project is also supported by the West African Development Bank (BOAD) to a tune of US $11m and will require a total investment of US $34m.
In the recent years, an effort has been made for the electrification of major cities of the country, but the rural electrification is still challenging. Over 90% of Togolese urban households do not have access to clean cooking. The supply of butane gas channels are not sufficiently decentralized and the gas price and the purchase cost of user equipment significantly limit the access of the majority of the population to modern cooking fuel.
