Savannah Energy has signed an agreement with Niger’s government paving the way for the development of 200MW of solar in the West African country.
The developer’s subsidiary Savannah Energy Niger Solar Limited has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the government of the Republic of Niger for the development of two solar plants with a combined installed power generation capacity of up to 200MW.
Following the anticipated completion of the required feasibility studies over the course of the next 12 months, the sites are expected to receive project sanction in 2024, with first power targeted in the 2025 to 2026 window.
A signature ceremony was held in Niamey attended by His Excellency Ibrahim Yacoubou, Minister of State for Energy and Renewable Energies, Her Excellency Catherine Inglehearn, British Ambassador to the Republic of Niger, and Yacine Wafy, Savannah’s vice president West Africa.
The two proposed solar plants are expected to be located within 20km of the cities of Maradi and Zinder, respectively, in southern Niger.
Each plant is expected to have an installed capacity of between 50MW and 100MW.
The facilities will be connected to the South Central section of Niger’s electricity grid, which is forecast to be interconnected to the Western electricity grid zone (which serves Niamey) by 2026, as part of a World Bank funded project.
Savannah expects to fund the developments from a combination of its own internally generated cashflows and project specific debt.
Yacoubou said: “These projects are an example of the Republic of Niger’s strategy to increase electricity access for our people at an affordable cost through an expanding energy mix, as we have outlined in our National Strategy of Energy Access (SNAE) and our National Policy Document on Electricity (DPNE).
These projects come in addition to the up to 250MW Parc Eolien de la Tarka, the wind farm signed with Savannah last year, which is expected to start construction in 2024.
Chief executive of Savannah Energy Andrew Knott said: “These are exactly the sort of high developmental impact projects our renewable energy division is seeking to deliver, with the potential to increase on-grid electricity supply in country by over 20%.
“We look forward to working with the government of Niger as we seek to advance these projects through their development and construction phases towards first power in the 2025 to 2026 window.”