- The $5 million grant will finance three components of the D2P initiative in Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger.
- The D2P initiative aims to produce 10GW of solar energy across eleven countries in the Sahel region.
- When actualised, the D2P initiative will produce the world’s largest solar energy production area.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved funding for the Desert to Power (D2P) initiative to deploy sustainable solar energy in 5 countries in the Sahel. The D2P initiative aims to provide clean energy to over 60 million people without access in Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger. The bank’s Board of Directors approved the initiative as a technical assistance project, and the AfDB will provide a $5m grant from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA).
The grant will support three components of the project; technical studies for the integration of variable renewable energies (mainly solar) in national grids; feasibility studies for the hybridization of solar energy production systems from existing isolated grids; and capacity building to help Chad integrate the first solar energy production project which is Djermaya PV IPP plant, into its national grid.
According to AfDB’s Acting Director for renewable energy and energy efficiency, Daniel Schroth, the technical assistance project will address the key bottlenecks limiting the large-scale deployment of solar power generation projects and allowing the preparation of bankable projects for future investments.
When actualised, the D2P project will harness the Sahel’s vast solar resources to create the world’s largest solar energy production region in the world. The project aims to produce 10GW of solar energy via off-grid and grid-connected installations across 11 countries in the Sahel region, providing electricity access to over 250 million people.