Solen SA Gabon, the subsidiary of independent power producer Solen, has just launched the construction of the Ayémé Plaine solar power plant in the Komo Department, Estuaire province of Gabon. The future solar power station under construction will have a total capacity of 120 MWp and is under construction on 251 hectares of land.
The construction of the Ayémé Plaine PV plant in Gabon started almost six months after the framework agreement was signed between the Gabonese Minister of Energy and Hydraulic Resources, Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, and the Operations Manager of Solen, Praveen Pai, in March 2022. The power producer, which is implementing the renewable energy project, is expected to deliver the project by July 2023.
In the first phase of the project, Solen SA Gabon will install photovoltaic panels with a combined capacity of 60 MWp, along with a 15-hour battery energy storage system (BESS). This will be followed by the addition of another 60 MWp capacity in the second phase with the same amount of storage system.
The main objective of the solar project is to diversify the electricity mix in the Estuaire region. It will provide the people with electricity which is both competitive and well as an effective solution to the problem of load shedding in the region. The future solar power plant will also help to reduce carbon emissions in the target area.
For the Ayémé Plaine solar plant, Solen will finance, install and operate the facility. The IPP will sell its output to the Gabonese Water and Energy Company (SEEG) under a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 25 years. In the long term, the government of this Central African country aims to increase the percentage of renewable energy in its electricity mix to 80% by the year 2030.
