GreenWish Plans to Build 100 MW Solar Capacity in North Nigeria - SolarStar

GreenWish  Partners, a Paris-based investment company focused on renewable energy in sub-Saharan Africa, plans to build two solar plants in northern Nigeria  with a total capacity of 100 MW.

The construction of the two 50 MW facilities will start next year is expected to cost $130 million to $150 million, Chief Executive Officer charlotte Aubin-Kalaidjian said in a telephone interview from the French capital. One of the plants will be located in Kaduna state, she said, declining to mention where the second site would be. Both plants will be connected to the national grid, she said.

“Nigeria is a very interesting market as it presents all the characteristics we’re looking for with regard to energy,” Aubin-Kalaidjian said. “There’s a high dependence on fuel oil diesel, which are expensive unreliable sources of energy, there’s a political will to develop solar energy, especially in the northern regions where gas is less available.”

Insufficient Gas

Africa’s most populous nation has seen its production of crude, the main foreign-exchange earner, plunge after repeated attacks on key installations by militants in southern oil-producing Niger River delta. The supply of gas, which is the source of about 80 percent of electricity in Nigeria, has also been affected, slashing an already insufficient output to 1,000 MW in May battering an economy hit by falling oil prices.

Turning to alternatives sources, Nigeria aims to get 50 percent of its energy from renewables, including solar power, by 2020, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said in August.

GreenWish is also developing off-grid solar projects for businesses based in the West African nation, including for a banking network of 350 units 2,000 telecom towers, Aubin-Kalaidjian said.

Senegal Plant

The company will inaugurate a 20-MW plant in northern Senegal on Oct. 22, the nation’s first industrial-sized solar plant. The station, built by Vinci SA, required an investment of 26 million euros ($28.6 million) will provide electricity to 160,000 people through the national grid.

The plants in Senegal Nigeria are part of GreenWish’s plan to develop 600 MW of renewable energy assets in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020 for an estimated cost of $1 billion, Aubin-Kalaidjian said. In June, U.S. private-equity firm Denham Capital committed as much as $250 million of investment to GreenWish.

The company has also on-grid off-grid projects in Guinea, Burkina Faso Ivory Coast, Aubin-Kalaidjian said. The group is looking into opportunities in Kenya where it plans to open an office, she said.

“Solar  is easy to replicate, it’s more competitive than fuel oil in isolated sites. We believe there’s a potential of rapid expansion but the governments need to set up an adequate regulatory contractual framework,” Aubin-Kalaidjian said. “Solar power will not solve all of Africa’s electricity problems but can do for a good part of it.”