It’s ironic that solar power installations remain relatively rare in the equatorial nations where electricity from the sun is most economically competitive. In one sign that may be changing, a Canadian company is planning what it says will be the largest solar installation in West Africa, and one of the largest on the continent, in Ghana.
Siginik Energy Ltd., which is part of Episolar Inc., has signed an agreement with the Electricity Company of Ghanda Ltd. to build the 50MW installation and sell the power to the utility over the next 25 years. The purchase agreement is worth more than $280 million, Siginik said.
The project will include a manufacturing facility in northwestern Ghana, and is projected to create about 800 highly skilled jobs altogether. Siginik plans to break ground within the next six months.
The global solar market is, of course, dominated by Europe, and particularly Germany—not a nation known for sunny skies. In 2011, a report by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association found that the world had just under 70,000MW of installed solar capacity, and 51,716MW of that total was in Europe. Just 336MW was in the entire Middle East and Africa region.
Yet many observers say the “sunbelt nations” close to the equator—including much of Africa—are obvious targets for solar installations, especially as the price of photovoltaic panels falls. A 2009 study by global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney found that Ghana is one of the more attractive sunbelt nations for solar installations based on its potential solar capacity as well as its business climate and demand for electricity. The nation came up higher on the list than the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka.
Siginik said energy consumption in Ghana has been growing at 10 to 15 percent per year, significantly more slowly than supply.
But Siginik isn’t the only one trying to use solar to change that. Earlier this year, South Korean company Halla Energy and Environment announced that it was investigating helping to develop to 300MW solar plant in Ghana.
Photo credit: Flickr/CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture