West Africa Solar Photovoltaic Power Supply System

Which country has launched 5 megawatts of West Africa's largest solar photovoltaic plant?

Ghana has launched 5 megawatts of West Africa’s largest floating solar photovoltaic plant to date. Bui Power Authority (BPA) completed the project on the Bui reservoir. The project is part of a hybrid plant that uses solar and hydro resources to generate and supply power to the national grid.

Does West African region have a high potential for solar energy?

Table 3. Generation capacities in baseline scenario.West African region has a high potential of solar energy for the installation of solar PV plants as indicated by the 10 km × 10 km resolution of Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) data in Fig. 3 ( ECOWAS Observatory for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, 2017 ).

Does integrating solar energy in a West African electricity network reduce load shedding?

For example, Gambia and Ghana increase their share of imports from 2% and 4% to 55% and 22% respectively. The results show that increasing integration of solar energy in a fully interconnected West African electricity network significantly meets growing demand,reduces load shedding and generation costs.

How can solar energy help the West African Power Pool?

For the West African Power Pool keen onincreasing electricity supply and reducing the current high electricity prices in the region, utilization of solar energy resources in combination with unexplored hydro resources provides an opportunity to achieve these goals.

Which country has launched a 5MW floating solar PV plant?

Ghana has launched West Africa’s largest 5MW floating solar PV plant on the Bui reservoir, integrating solar and hydro resources for energy generation. Ghana has launched 5 megawatts of West Africa’s largest floating solar photovoltaic plant to date. Bui Power Authority (BPA) completed the project on the Bui reservoir.

Is there a gap between electricity supply and demand in West Africa?

This illustrates the currenthuge gap between electricity supply and demand in West Africa and is reflected in the frequent electricity outages and load shedding experienced in each country. These outages have resulted in increased usage of diesel or petrol backup generators in domestic and industry sectors.