From pv magazine France
The Malian government has awarded a 30-year concession to Legendre Energie, a unit of French construction company Legendre, to finance, design, build and operate a 50 MWp solar power plant.
The project, for which a preliminary agreement was signed with the Malian government in 2016, will require an investment of CFA60.8 billion (€92.7 million).
A power purchase agreement will be signed between the national company Énergie du Mali (EDM-SA) and the special purpose vehicle Fana Solar Power, the Malian government said in a statement released after the cabinet meeting.
In addition, Bamako approved the construction of a photovoltaic solar power plant in the Ségou Cercle administrative subdivision of the Ségou region. Dormant since 2015, when it secured authorization from the Malian authorities, this project benefits from the fall in the price of solar equipment on international markets and from the additional financing of related infrastructure by the Norwegian government, allowing a review of the project costs.
The solar power plant to be built by Norwegian independent power producer Scatec, in the municipality of Pélengana, in the Ségou district, will have a capacity of 33 MW.
The Ségou Solaire special purpose vehicle will develop this project in partnership with IFC InfraVentures, a subsidiary of the World Bank group, and local developer Africa Power, for a planned investment of €48.4 million.
Bamako has been trying to speed up its solar program for months, benefiting from lower panel costs. France-based Akuo Energy commissioned its 50 MW solar power plant in Kita last November, the output of which is sold to EDM-SA.
The government of Mali aims to ramp up the country's share of renewable energy in the national electricity mix to 25% by 2033, in addition to a 61% rural electrification target.
According to the latest statistics published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Mali only had 70 MW of cumulative installed solar capacity by the end of 2020. All of last year's newly installed capacity was represented by Akuo's solar plant in Kita.
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