200 MW Solar Project ‘Largest in West Africa’ to Come up in Nigeria

B&S Power and Sunnyfred Global to design, develop, finance and construct West Africa’s largest solar PV project in Nigeria.

B&S Power, a Singapore based renewable energy corporation, and Sunnyfred Global, a Nigerian investment entity, have concluded arrangements in collaboration with other stakeholders and Technical Partners, to Design, Develop, Finance and Construct West Africa’s largest solar PV farm in Nigeria – The Ashama 200 MW solar PV project.

The Solar PV Project is located on about 304 Hectares of Land in Ashama Village, Aniocha South of Delta State in Nigeria. 

According to a statement from Greenplinth Africa, Consultants & Strategic Partners to the Project Promoters, a Media Chat and Project Roadmap Presentation would take place on February 25, 2021. The event with the theme “Sustainable and Affordable Energy Access for Communities in Nigeria” will highlight the importance of the Ashama Solar Photovoltaic Project to the host community, state, the nation and the continent in general.

According to the World Bank, over 80 million Nigerians are without access to electricity and millions more suffer from poor service despite efforts by the Federal Government to provide electricity in the country. And also about 60 Million of these Nigerians spend more than N1.6 Trillion on fossil fuel generators yearly. The Federal Government of Nigeria however expects renewable energy to fill a substantial portion of the electricity poverty gap in the country.

In Africa, Power is Inaccessible, Unaffordable, and Unreliable for most people. This traps people in poverty; students find it difficult to read after dark, clinics cannot refrigerate vaccines and businesses have shorter operating hours. Today, more than 25 African countries face an energy crisis. The African continent is well endowed with energy resources, but most remain untapped.

In December 2020, we had reported that a 5 MW section has been connected to the grid at a floating solar plant on the reservoir of the Bui hydroelectric dam in Ghana. With this, the plant made a small step towards its eventual goal for a 250 MW plant.

When completed, the plant could potentially be the largest floating solar plant in Africa. More importantly, in a continent where mini-grids have been the go-to solution for solar-powered energy solutions, the plant could also be one of the notable utility-scale success stories. Construction is being done in parcels of 50 MW each.