By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Mali has extended partnership to Russia for the construction of the largest solar power plant in West Africa, a project that was officially inaugurated on Friday, Malian Energy Minister, Bintou Camara announced.
The power station, “the first in terms of size in the country and even in the subregion … will greatly reduce the electricity shortage currently affecting our country,” Camara told Malian national TV station, ORTM.
This project comes as the country continues to face challenges related to electricity supply, with only half of the population having access to electricity.
This new project is expected to increase Mali’s electricity production by 10%, Grigory Nazarov, director of NovaWind, the Russian company in charge of the construction stated.
NovaWind is a subsidiary of Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom.
Heritage Times HT gathered that the 200-megawatt solar station will cover 314 hectares in Sanankoroba, in southwestern Mali, close to the capital, Bamako.
The project costing over 200 million euros ($217 million), will be completed within one year, Nazarov said.
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The solar power plant is designed for “stable operation for 20 years” and will come “under full control of the Malian Ministry of Energy” after 10 years, he added.
In March when the deal with NovaWind was signed, Finance Minister Alousseni Sanou had said Malian electricity production at 70% thermal was extremely costly.
It faces a debt burden of more than $330 million. The country’s national energy company is no longer able to supply electricity to the capital and other towns around the country.
Construction of two other solar plants near Bamako is scheduled to start on May 28 and June 1 and be built by Chinese and Emirati companies.
During a call in March, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Malian junta leader Colonel Assimi Goita discussed strengthening “cooperation in energy, agricultural and mining projects,” the Kremlin said.
