Solar power station, Burkina Faso
In November 2017 the President of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, joined the French President Emmanuel Macron in inaugurating the Zagtouli solar power station near Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. With a capacity of 33.7 MW, this plant can produce up to 56 GWh per year – enough to cover nearly 5% of the country’s annual electricity demand. With a construction contract value of €37 million, the plant was built on behalf of the Société Nationale d’Électricité du Burkina Faso (Sonabel) and financed jointly by the European Development Fund, France’s Development Agency, and the state of Burkina Faso. In addition to handling engineering, procurement and construction, Omexom will run and maintain the plant for two years. The scheme incorporates almost 130,000 solar panels – 1,800 mounting structures with 72 modules each, plus 32 inverters. The Zagtouli power plant illustrates the commitment at state level to diversifying Burkina Faso’s energy mix. The country aims to meet 30% of its electricity needs from photovoltaic solar panels by 2025–2030.