Cameroon’s Minister of Water and Energy, Gaston Eloundou Essomba, has inaugurated the 36 MWp Maroua and Guider solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in the Grand-North region of the Central African country.
The facilities – which serve as the first large-scale solar PV plants in Cameroon – were developed by renewable power producer Scatec and commissioned by Cameroon’s national electricity utility, Eneo.
During the inauguration ceremony, Minister Essomba highlighted that the solar plants will, “Substantially improve the quality of the public service in the norther part of the country, which was previously subject to drastic drops in production from the Lagdo Dam, due to hydrological problems.”
Boasting an investment of approximately $27.3 million, and benefitting from an $11.6 million guarantee from financial company, NGFI Bank Group, the two plants are equipped with over 44,800 bifacial solar panels mounted on trackers as well as 20 MW/19 MWh battery storage systems. Poised to produce 80 GWh of electricity per year, the Maroua and Guider solar PV plants will also mitigate approximately 60,000 metric tons of CO2 per year.
The solar power plants were completed in phases throughout 2022 and have since become fully operational, with their inauguration marking a significant step towards Cameroon’s contribution to the global energy transition.