Burkina Faso 42 MWp PV plant Project - Conductors Supply

Project Information:

Project Name: YELEEN BURKINA Construction of 42 MWp PV plant

Owner: SOCIETE NATIONALE D'ELECTRICITE DU BURKINA(SONABEL)

EPC Contractor: El-Sewedy Electric

Awarded Date: 2022.11

What We Supplied:

570 mmsq AAAC Aluminum Conductor

240 mmsq AAC Aluminum Conductor hard drawn

Project News:

Power production in Burkina Faso is mainly based on thermal power plants, with particularly high costs. There are interconnections with neighbouring countries, but imports are limited. Given the situation, Burkina Faso has decided to develop power production through solar power plant projects. One of the scheduled development programmes for solar energy is the Solar Plan supported by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), which assist the National Electricity Corporation (SONABEL) in its efforts to develop the Yeleen project (“The Project”).

The project will install about 50 MWp of PV production capacity on a large power plant near Ouagadougou, North-West Ouaga (≈ 40 MWp) connected to a 90 kV power line, and three other plants located in major regional towns - Dori, Diapaga and Gaoua.

The project’s environmental and social assessment focused on the various project components:

• The main component: NW Ouagadougou solar power plant and its 90 kV power line;

• The secondary components: Dori, Diapaga and Gaoua solar power plants.

The assessment was conducted in compliance with the national, World Bank, and AfDB standards.

This summary has been prepared in accordance with the environmental and social requirements of Burkina Faso and AfDB's Integrated Safeguards System (ISS) for Category 1 projects. The project description, rationale and challenges are presented first, followed by the legal and institutional framework to guide the project implementation. Next is a list of the main impacts observed during the project preparation, construction and operational phases, together with measures to enhance the positive impacts and/or prevent, minimise, and mitigate the negative impacts. Finally, concerns raised during the public consultations, as well as a summary of the ESMPs and mechanisms for monitoring their implementation are presented.