The visit of the representatives of the Alcaal company to the Pink Palace in N’Djamena was fruitful. The Buenos Aires, Argentina-based company signed a partnership agreement with the Chadian Ministry of Finance and Budget, as well as the Ministry of Energy and Enterprise. The agreement covers feasibility studies for the construction, operation and maintenance of a photovoltaic plant with a capacity of up to 200 MWp.
The facility to be built near N’Djamena will have a battery-based electricity storage system. Currently, very little information has been revealed about this new solar photovoltaic project. Its implementation, however, confirms the government plans to accelerate the electrification of the country by relying on renewable sources such as solar energy. In this country with the arid climate of Central Africa, the rate of access to electricity is only 12% according to the World Bank’s 2018 report.
Over the past few months, things have been moving in the electricity sector. The government is increasingly issuing releases to allow independent power producers (IPPs) to boost Chad’s national electricity grid. The most advanced solar project is the Djermaya solar project (50 MWp) near the capital N’Djamena. The project in the tender phase (EPC) is being developed by a consortium formed by Aldwich International, Smart Energies and Infraco Africa, a financial company owned by Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG).
The three developers have signed a public-private partnership (PPP) with the Chadian Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Finance and the Renewable Energy Agency (ADER). The consortium will sell the electricity produced to Chad’s National Electricity Company (SNE) under a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
Jean Marie Takouleu