By Daniel D.
The Ministry of Water and Energy has announced plans to build two new photovoltaic solar plants in Maroua and Guider, in the Far North Region, to boost electricity supply.
The declaration made by Minister Gaston Eloundou Essomba followed a deal signed by the electricity distribution company, ENEO, and the Norwegian company, SCATEC-RELEASE.
In a notice issued on June 10, the Water and Energy Minister stated that the two new photovoltaic solar plants will contribute 28.6 megawatts of electricity, with 19.2 megawatt hours of storage already in existence.
“As a reminder, it is within the framework of the implementation of the solutions prescribed by the Head of State to improve the supply of electrical energy in the Northern Interconnected Network (RIN) that two first modular photovoltaic solar power plants with a total capacity of 35.8 megawatt peaks have been installed in Maroua and Guider and officially put into service on September 22, 2023,” he said.
The solar power plants of Maroua and Guider are expected to go operational in July 2025.
“They will make it possible to satisfy the growing needs of populations and businesses while avoiding the resurgence of a deficit in electrical energy in the Northern Interconnected Network,” the Minister said.
Owing to the inability to link all rural areas to the hydroelectricity grid, the government is exploiting solar power to remedy the challenge.
The installations in Maroua and Guider are coming after the government inaugurated another plant on April 18 at Bindoumba, in the Dja and Lobo Division of the South Region.
These solar plants are being constructed in 86 localities in the country. It is part of a government plan to provide electricity to over 1,000 rural areas of the country which are not connected to the national hydroelectric grid.
