Cape Verde government launches tender for solar power plants on four islands

The Special Projects Management Unit (UGPE) of the Government of Cape Verde, announced a tender (available here)  for the construction and development of solar power plants in the islands of Fogo (1.3 MW), Santo Antão (1.2 MW), São Nicolau (0.4 MW) and Maio (0.4 MW).

This tender– with a deadline for submission of proposals until March 30th – states that the the winning company will be announced in May, the construction will start in August and the commissioning in June 2025.

This project was presented publicly in Praia on March 2022, providing for the installation of these solar power plants on four islands, with a global investment of US$16.5 million (EUR 15.5 million) co-financed by the World Bank.

According to the Government presentation, after the construction of photovoltaic power plants, the executive intends to "award its operation to private". It also involves the construction of the interconnection infrastructures of these plants to the public grid, as well as the installation of batteries to ensure the storage of the energy produced, as a "pilot project".

According to the Minister of Energy, Alexandre Monteiro, in addition to these four power plants, there are five more processes of renewable energy production, solar and wind, ongoing, to which competed "more than 20 companies", in a process that has been conditioned by the pandemic.

Nevertheless, it assured that these projects will enable Cape Verde to achieve energy production targets through renewable sources, given the current dependence on fossil fuels, which feeds more than 80% of the electricity produced in the country's power plants, affected by the rising price of petroleum products on the international market.

The plan approved by Cape Verde’s Government provides aims to achieve 30% of energy production from renewable sources by 2025 and more than 50% by 2030.

Totally dependent on fossil fuels and without refining capacity, the World Bank says that Cape Verde is one of the countries with the highest electricity tariffs in sub-Saharan Africa, which experienced an average increase of about 30% in October, but the Government predicts that with the progressive increase in the installed capacity of renewable energy consumer prices will fall.

Source @ The World Bank