British energy company Savannah Energy has entered an agreement with the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in Africa's Chad to build up to 500 MW of renewable energy capacity in the country, including a 300 MW solar facility as the 'largest' PV project in Sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa.
Africa focused Savannah Energy's CEO Andrew Knott said the projects represent one of the largest ever foreign direct investments in Chad and are believed to be the largest ever by a British company.
The 300 MW Centrale Solaire de Komé Solar Plant in Komé region will be accompanied by the 'largest' battery storage project in Africa. Savannah Energy said the project is expected to be sanctioned in 2023 and come online in 2025.
It will supply clean energy to the Doba Oil Project and the towns of Moundou and Doba in Southern Chad, replacing existing hydrocarbon power supply at a tariff that's expected to be significantly less than that being paid for hydrocarbon energy generation.
The remaining 200 MW will be realized as 2 projects of up to 100 MW each for solar and wind energy to Chad's capital N'Djamena, thereby increasing the existing installed generation capacity supplying power to the city. Comprising the 2×100 MW plants, the Centrales d'Energie Renouvelable de N'Djamena project will also be accompanied by a battery energy storage system (BESS). This project is expected to secure sanction in 2023/24 and begin operations in 2025-26.
Knott said both these projects have the potential to contribute to a 'transformative change in the country's GDP over the course of the coming years, as well as bringing the significant quality of life benefits associated with access to regularized power to the regions in which the projects are situated'.
The company said it will announce more large scale greenfield power projects in the next 12 months.