AMEA Power, a subsidiary of UAE-based Al Nowais Investments (ANI), has officially commissioned its 50MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Blitta, Togo
The development marks the country’s first utility-scale renewable energy project developed by an independent power producer (IPP), and one of the largest solar PV IPP plants in West Africa.
Officially named Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed, after HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, the PV plant has been delivered in record time, with just 18 months between the signing of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and commencement of commercial operations.
The power plant will be operated for 25 years by AMEA Togo Solar, saving more than one million tonnes of CO2 emissions over the course of its life. The plant is instrumental in supporting Togo’s ambitious US$8 billion 2018 – 2022 National Development Plan (NDP), which aims to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030 and to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix to 50%.
HE Faure Gnassingbé, President of Togo, and AMEA Power’s chairman, Hussain Al Nowais, attended an inauguration ceremony on 22 June 2021 at the power plant site. Other high-profile attendees included the Prime Minister of Togo, Victoire Tomegah Dogbé; minister delegate to the President of the Republic, in charge of Energy and Mines in Togo, Mila Aziable; director of Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET), Laré Santiégou; senior advisor to the President of Togo, Shegun Adjadi Bakari and others.
The project was supported with concessional loans from the West African Development Bank (BOAD) and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD). It was pre-funded on balance sheet, and then refinanced, a unique model for a large-scale IPP project in Africa.
