ARE Member Sunkofa & PowerGen awarded 40 Mini-Grids on the Benin Mini-Grid Call for Proposals
29 Jun 2020 – PowerGen and ARE Member Sunkofa Energy signed on 22 March 2020 with MCA Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), funded by Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the co-financing agreement to put in place the project of electrification of 40 villages in Benin through solar mini-grids.
This is the result of a competitive tender run by Benin Off-Grid Clean Energy Facility (OCEF) with 20 USD million fund to co-finance mini-grids in Benin. This project aims to increase access to electricity for the currently unserved population in rural and peri-urban areas.
The project will be carried out by Mionwa SA, the joint venture created by PowerGen and Sunkofa in Benin. It will build 40 off-grid solar power plants to provide 84,000 Beninese with access to electricity. These mini grids will power households, businesses, industries and entrepreneurs. They will be built in the next 2 years and operated during 25 years under a concession contract.
Together with stakeholders, institutions, associations and inhabitants in rural areas, Mionwa has identified an innovative value proposition that best meets user’s needs. Now local population will increase their incomes thanks to mechanisation, to the relocation of good transformation processes and to a better conservation of perishable products. Access to electricity will also increase the attractiveness of villages, reducing rural exodus and enabling electricity usage for medical centers and schools.
With this project, PowerGen and Sunkofa reinforce their collaboration in the African continent and plan to extend the partnership to new countries. Both companies share a common vision on mini-grids as a key technology for electrification, allowing for quick deployment of electricity and electricity related services without compromising long-term functionality, scalability, and integration into existing infrastructure.
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