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| Shobizz Blog - Mali Solar Energy |
Mali has signed an agreement with a Norwegian renewable
energy specialist to build west Africa’s first industrial-scale solar power
plant, the company announced in a statement on
Friday.
Oslo-based Scatec Solar said it had signed up to build the 52 million-euro
($58 million) unit near the southwestern city of
Segou and run it for 25 years.
“This landmark agreement signals the government’s commitment to meet the
nation’s growing energy demand and to
provide clean, renewable and affordable energy to our people,”
Energy Minister Mamadou Frankaly Keita was quoted as saying.
The plant is expected to produce enough electricity each year to
power 60,000 typical family homes, while cutting annual carbon dioxide
emissions by
about 46,000 tonnes.
Mali, a volatile, conflict-hit country of over 16 million people, has been
plagued in recent years by chronic electricity outages.
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| Shobizz Blog - Mali Solar Energy.. |
The government reported last year that the country, which is
almost two-thirds desert, had managed to supply just 45
percent of its electricity demand in 2013.
The administration in Bamako says Mali’s EDM-SA energy
company — two-thirds owned by the state and a third owned by a subsidiary of
the Aga Khan
group — is in crisis, failing to ensure an adequate supply
despite state subsidies worth 87.7 million euros in 2013.
“After several years of
development efforts in the region, we can now move forward with the first
utility-scale solar plant in west Africa,” Scatec
Solar CEO Raymond Carlsen said.
“The Malian authorities have
demonstrated decisive will to tackle the nagging issue of
power supply.”
Scatec will own 50 percent of the Segou plant while the World
Bank’s International Finance Corporation will hold 32.5%, leaving the remaining
equity to local partner Africa Power 1.
The project is to be funded by a combination of traditional bank
borrowing, a loan from the World Bank’s Investment Climate
Fund and equity contributed by the partners.
