The African Biofuel and Renewable Energy Co. (ABREC), which promotes renewable energy and energy efficiency across Africa, has issued a tender for the deployment of 22 MW of solar power, on behalf of the government of Guinea-Bissau.
The tendered project includes the construction of a 20 MW ground-mounted solar power plant in Gardete, near the city of Bissau. Upon completion, the project will sell power to national utility EAGB under a long-term PPA. The plan also includes two 1 MW hybrid solar-diesel installations, including an unspecified amount of storage capacity in Gabu and Canchungo.
Interested developers will have until April 10 to submit their bids. The West African Development Bank (BOAD) if financially backing the project, which was initially launched in September 2017, with a $42.9 million loan.
When built, the new facilities will more than double the country’s total installed generation capacity, which currently stands at just 11 MW of small thermal power plants. But according to a recent report by the World Bank, over half of that installed capacity is out of service, while around 40% of its produced electricity is currently being lost (or stolen) in the distribution network.
With a population of 1.75 million, Guinea-Bissau has one of the lowest electrification rates in Africa, as vast areas of its territory are not covered by electricity supply. Biomass currently covers around 95% of total household energy consumed in Guinea-Bissau.
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