Savannah Energy Plc, a British independent energy company, has announced the signing of an agreement with the Republic of Chad’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, for the development of up to 500 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy projects.
The projects are to supply electricity to the Doba Oil Project and the towns of Moundou and Doba in Southern Chad, and the capital city, N’Djamena.
Present at the signing ceremony on Friday were in N’Djamena, Chad, were the Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Republic of Chad, Djerassem le Bemadjiel; Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the Republic of Chad, Mark Matthews; Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy N’Djamena, Chad, Sarah Wilson; and Chief Executive Officer, Savannah Energy, Andrew Knott.
The first project Savannah Energy agreed to develop comprises up to 300MW photovoltaic solar farm and battery energy storage system (BESS) located in Komé, Southern Chad.
This project is being developed to provide clean, reliable power generation for the Doba Oil Project and the surrounding towns of Moundou and Doba, and is expected in 2023 with first power in 2025.
The second project involves the development of solar and wind projects of up to 100MW each to supply power to Chad’s capital city, N’Djamena. A significant portion of this project is anticipated to benefit from the installation of a BESS, potentially enabling the provision of 24/7 power supply, and expected in 2023/24 with first power in 2025/26.
Savannah expects to fund the Projects from a combination of its own internally generated cash flows and project specific debt.
The projects represent one of the largest ever foreign direct investments in Chad and are believed to be the largest ever by a British company.
Commenting, le Bemadjiel, said: “We are delighted to work with Savannah on these two potentially transformational power projects for Chad. Our country is blessed with a significant renewable energy resource and we are excited that a leading British company such as Savannah is seeking to harness this resource to provide utility scale power to our country.
“We are already engaged to provide all the support needed for implementing these projects and having the first power delivered to our population and our industries in line with the State plan for enhancing the power offering in our country.”
Also speaking, Matthews said: “I am delighted that a British company, Savannah Energy, is making such a substantial investment in renewable energy in Chad. Chad has plentiful resources of renewable energy which, through investments like this, can be harnessed to develop the economy and improve the lives of Chadians.”
On his part, Knott said: “I am delighted to announce the Centrale Solaire de Komé and the Centrales d’Energie Renouvelable de N’Djamena projects. Both of these represent a major vote of confidence in Chad by Savannah and have the potential to contribute to a transformative change in the country’s GDP over the course of the coming years.
“They also bring the significant quality of life benefits associated with access to regularised power to the regions in which the projects are situated. The projects represent one of the largest ever foreign direct investments in Chad and are believed to be the largest ever by a British company.
“We look forward to working with the Government and our developmental finance partners over the course of the coming years as we move through the feasibility and construction phases of the projects to our intended first power dates in 2025/26.”
