- Niger is set to construct a 50MW solar plant near Niamey.
- The plant is being developed under the Scaling Solar Programme of the World Bank.
Niger‘s Ministry of Petroleum, Energy and Renewable Energy has launched a tender to construct a 50MW solar power plan at Gorou Banda near Niamey. The plant is being developed under the World Bank Scaling Solar program, also supported by the French Development Agency (AFD )and the European Union. Niger had earlier joined the Scaling Solar initiative in June 2021.
The solar plant is co-located with a 100 MW diesel-fueled thermal power plant that was commissioned in 2017. Both plants will share transmission infrastructure and will be connected to the medium-voltage substation in Zabori. Niger is largely dependent on power imports from neighbouring Nigeria as the state utility company, Nigelec, has only an installed generation capacity of around 140MW. The installed PV capacity stood at 27MW at the end of 2020.
Interested developers must submit their bids by November 22.