The Russian NovaWind will urgently install 200 MWp of photovoltaic solar energy in Mali. As the electricity crisis continues to slow the development of Mali’s economy, transitional president Assimi Goïta laid the foundation stone for a new solar photovoltaic power plant on Friday, May 24. With a capacity of 200 MWp, the plant is being built by the Russian company NovaWind, a subsidiary of the giant Rosatom.

Can solar photovoltaics help Mali overcome its electricity crisis? We will certainly find out in the coming months. Mali’s transitional government has been working hard in recent weeks to implement this solution throughout the country. On Friday, May 24, 2024, the transitional president, Assimi Goïta, traveled to Sanankoroba, in the Kati circle, to lay the foundation stone of a new photovoltaic solar power plant.

With a planned capacity of 200 MWp, it will be the largest photovoltaic solar power plant in sub-Saharan Africa, with an area of ??314 hectares. The park is being built about thirty kilometers from the capital, Bamako, as part of a partnership between the government and NovaWind, a subsidiary of the Russian energy giant Rosatom. The Moscow-based company recently signed a partnership with the government of Kyrgyzstan (Central Asia) to develop 1,000 MW of renewable energy.

NovaWind will invest €200 million in the project before it comes online in 12 months. Once operational, the photovoltaic plant will be capable of supplying 10% of Mali’s electricity. One day before the start of work on the Sanankoroba solar power plant, the Head of State of Mali, Assimi Goïta, met with the General Director of NovaWind, Grigory Nazarov, to review the progress of the project. At the end of the meeting, the general secretary of the Malian government stated that the project represented “a significant step towards diversifying Mali’s energy mix and reducing its dependence on fossil fuels.”

“With this new generation infrastructure to be built in Sanankoroba, Mali embarks on the path towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy future,” said President Assimi Goïta. Earlier this month, the Malian government approved the first modification of the concession agreement for the construction of the 50 MWp solar photovoltaic plant in Tiakadougou-Dialokoro, in the Kati circle. The solar power plant, which has been in the pipeline since 2020, will be built within the framework of a public-private partnership (PPP) by the Emirati company Amea Power.