(Business in Cameroon) – The expansion of the solar power plants in Maroua and Guider is being supported by a financial guarantee of CFA6 billion. This guarantee benefits the energy company Eneo, with the Ministry of Finance already granting its approval in principle. This information was shared by Minister Gaston Eloundou Essomba during a budget presentation for 2025 to the Finance and Budget Committee of the National Assembly.
The minister emphasized that the project is progressing well. In June 2024, a lease-transfer agreement was signed with Release, a subsidiary of the Norwegian company Scatec, to handle the expansion work.
The project involves the installation of 1,040 solar trackers fitted with 52,000 bifacial monocrystalline silicon solar panels, each with an average capacity of 550 Wc. Energy storage will rely on advanced lithium, iron, and phosphate batteries, which, according to Minister Essomba, have a longer life cycle and can supply electricity during peak nighttime hours.
The minister highlighted that the first phases of the Maroua and Guider solar plants have already contributed about 104.16 gigawatt-hours of electricity to the Northern Interconnected Grid. This output has resulted in savings of over CFA41 billion, which would have been spent if the energy had been generated using diesel-powered thermal plants, as was done in the past.
