The town of Pa, about 200 kilometers west of Ouagadougou, has been selected to house the new solar power plant, construction of which has just begun.
This plant, the second in the country, will cost more than 21 billion CFA francs (35,483,196.00 United States Dollar) and will be delivered in ten months. According to a source close to the dossier, the new source of solar energy will supply 150,000 households.
The 150,000 households will be distributed in six localities, including Pa, a commune where the population has difficulty in gaining access to energy, according to Issouf Kaboré, a resident of the district.
This plant will be built in a public-private partnership with the French group Urbasolar, which will invest 21.5 billion. The 25,000 panels will have an annual production of 51.7 Gigawatt/h explains the manager of the group.
The Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Christophe Dabiré, has indicated that the new solar infrastructure will be the second-largest power station in the country, but the first of a series of five to be built this year to increase solar production to 200 megawatts by 2021.
All of the production will be bought by the national electricity company, which will take care of distribution. The cost per kilowatt-hour will be 48 francs, compared with the current domestic price of 75 francs. The company will operate the plant for 25 years before being handed over to the Burkinabe state.
