PHOTON International The Photovoltaic Magazine

Technology-neutral electrification project in Mali offers chance for PV

Mali's National Agency for Domestic Energy and Rural Electrification (AMADER) plans to launch two tenders for electrification concessions in the country's regions Segou and Mopti.

© Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE

Competition soon: If PV bidders are awarded in Mali's rural electrification tender, this small solar shop in the capital Bamako will likely face competition from big foreign corporations.

The project received a grant of €3.7 million ($4.7 million) from the German Development Bank (KfW). A request for proposals will be published once KfW consultant Lahmeyer International GmbH has finalized the socio-economic study, including a master plan for electrification of the two regions.

According to a spokesperson from KfW, the tender documents are expected to be released by the second half of 2006. Adama Sissoko, director of the rural electrification department at AMADER, says that Segou and Mopti are the first two regions among a total of 18 to be electrified in the nationwide 10-year Program for Rural Electrification (PRODER). For the other 16 regions, feasibility studies will be carried out with financial support from the World Bank.

As in that of neighboring country Senegal (see PI 9/2005, p. 8), Mali's rural electrification program is based on technology neutrality, allowing the bidders to use their preferred electrification technology, even if contrary to the consultant's proposal. »But renewable energies will have a big chance« claims Sissoko, and estimates that over 60 percent of the households would be equipped with solar energy. Mali's electricity grid covers only a few urban areas and is barely interconnected, while rural villages are even more scattered than in Senegal, thus offering ideal conditions for the use of photovoltaic solar home systems.

With the two initial tenders and further activities that include supporting local initiatives and small private operators, AMADER plans to provide basic electricity service to 70,000 households in the next five years. Sissoko says that the number is limited by the budget currently available. But with further funds the agency would extend its activities to more villages. The government aims to provide access to electricity to 720,000 households by 2020.