India-based engineering, procurement and construction company Sterling and Wilson has signed a contract to build a solar-storage-diesel project in Niger, in West Africa.
The plant in Agadez, tendered by The Nigerian Electricity Company (Nigelec), comprises 18.9MW of solar PV, a 3MW/11.55 megawatt-hour battery and a 6.54Mdiesel generator, plus a 20 kV substation and evacuation line up to Nigelec’s substation in Agadez.
Sterling and Wilson is constructing the plant in consortium partnership with French EPC company Vergnet and SNS Niger.
The consortium will also be responsible for a two-year operation and maintenance (O&M) service of the power plant.
The plant’s battery will enable generated electricity to be stored and delivered at any given time, providing stability to the grid and will also “aid flexibility and agility to better integrate solar and diesel energy into the electricity grid of the city and ensure quality power”.
O&M services will comprise complete system and rehabilitation of the electrical network of the city of Agadez, and the electrification of the neighbouring hamlet of Tibinitene.
The consortium will provide project management assistance and institutional support to train engineers and technicians of Nigelec to enable them to operate large-scale solar power plants in the short term and to ensure smooth functioning of the plant even after two years.