This month, the Ten Merina solar power plant in Senegal will be commissioned. “We are waiting only for the commissioning but everything is set,” said Amadou Thiam, head of operations at the plant which he said has been producing its 30 MW output for the national grid, since November 2017.

The plant was built by French firms Eiffage, Solairedirect and Meridiam over about a year and cost €43 million (more than CFA30 billion). Out of this amount, Proparco, the arm of the French Development Agency (AFD) in charge of private investments, and the Belgian development finance institution Bio, have provided €34.5 million.

The plant’s commissioning falls in line with Senegal’s energy strategy which aims to make the country meet 20% of its power demand with solar.

Gwladys Johnson Akinocho