Sakai solar PV power plant comes into operation in Central African Republic

The Central African Republic (CAR) has started the operation of Sakai solar photovoltaic power plant.

The plant comes into operation after three years of development. The solar PV plant is located in Bimbo town, near the capital city of Bangui.

The project has been possible with the cooperation of China as it was funded by the Chinese government. The construction work was carried by Tianjin Electric Power Construction. The project is operated by the principal energy utility company Enerca.

As per the authorities, the 15 MW power plant consists of 33,432 solar panels. The project is spread across a 16-hectare land.

It has been informed that this solar farm is the first successfully commissioned large-scale solar PV plant in the country. The project is likely to offset around 30% of Bangui’s total electricity demand.

According to Arthur Bertran Piri, Minister for Energy Development and Water Resources, “the infrastructure will improve the overall electricity supply in Bangui, in particular the industrial sector. The solar plant is one of the energy projects by the government that aims to lessen the regular power outages which have become a common situation in the country that sometimes last 16 hours a day,” a local media reported.

The project comes at a time when the Central African Republic has been facing a shortage of power supply for a long time.