UK Energy Company to Install 500MW of Solar in Chad

Savannah Energy, a British energy company, recently acquired the Doba Oil project in Chad, where it aims to install up to 300 MW of solar and a battery to power operations. It has also committed to generating power for the capital, N'Djamena, with up to 100 MW of solar and the equivalent amount of wind.

Savannah Energy has agreed to work with the Chad government to create solar-plus-battery facilities with a capacity of up to 400 megawatts.

Savannah Energy, based in London, paid $626 million to Exxon Mobil and Petronas in January to purchase holdings in Chad and neighbouring Cameroon, including a 75 per cent share in the Doba Oil Project, a media report said. The company said that it would create up to 300 MW of solar capacity and a battery system to power the oil project and the surrounding villages of Moundou and Doba.

Savannah Energy did not specify how much of the electricity generated by the Centrale Solaire de Komé solar-plus-storage plant will be used to operate the oil field's activities. The battery system's size was not specified.

The company has also pledged to build up to 100 MW of solar power and the equivalent number of wind turbines to provide electricity for N'Djamena, Chad's capital. The Centrales d'Energie Renouvelable de N'Djamena project is "expected to benefit from the construction of a [battery energy storage system]," says a news release by Savannah Energy last week.

According to Savannah Energy, if the latter project reaches 200 MW in size, it will more than double the capital's grid-connected power generation capacity and increase the country's electricity capacity by about 63 per cent. According to the energy business, the Centrale Solaire de Komé plant would be "the largest solar project in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa)" at 300 MW. It would also be "Africa's largest battery storage plant," according to the company.

The agreement struck with Chad's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is one of the African country's largest foreign direct investment transactions. He claims it is the "biggest project ever undertaken by a British corporation" in Chad.

The Centrale Solaire de Komé project will most likely be approved in 2023. It is expected to generate power for the first time in 2025. The dates given for the Centrales d'Energie Renouvelable de N'Djamena facility were 2023-24 and 2025-26, respectively.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, Chad has only 1 MW of grid-connected solar capacity and 227 kW of off-grid arrays at the end of 2021.

Source: PV Magazine

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