West Africa's biggest solar plant

West Africa’s biggest solar power plant came online on Wednesday (29 November) as Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest countries, inaugurates a novel scheme to boost renewables and cut energy dependence on its neighbours.

The 55-hectare plant at Zagtouli on the outskirts of the capital Ouagadougou will be able to churn out 33 megawatts – enough to power tens of thousands of homes.

Presiding over the opening ceremony will be Burkinabe President Roch Marc Christian Kabore and his visiting French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, whose country partially funded construction of the facility.

“For the past six weeks the plant has been in a test phase with production of 14 MW, and will reach a peak of 33 MW during December, sufficient sunshine permitting,” said the site’s construction manager, Stephane Nosserau.

“This is West Africa’s largest plant in terms of installed capacity,” added construction overseer Saidou Nana.

The plant’s 129,600 260-watt solar panels are capable of annually pumping out 56 gigawatts – equivalent to 5% of current production – into the network of national power firm Sonabel, he said.

“We import energy from Ivory Coast and there have been difficulties obtaining supplies at times,” said Nana.

“That is why we decided with financial backers to provide Sonabel with a source of energy from photovoltaic panels to respond to the public’s needs, which are growing at an annualised 13%,” he explained.

The added power will help reduce power shortages, said Nana, which greatly hamper the economy.

Burkina Faso produces only about 60% of the electricity it consumes – and just 20% of the overall population is hooked up to the grid. Many people use wood or butane gas bottles.