Burkina Faso has a factory plant for solar panels. A first in West Africa that confirms the call from this country that is engaged in mastering its entire solar industry. Supported by the government, Faso Energy has just launched its production. The state, which multiplies the creation of solar power plants, places orders for it to support the sector.
Two hundred solar panels now leave the workshops of Faso Energy, located in the suburbs of Ouagadougou, every day. About fifty employees were trained by a European group, which also supplied the production line.
Jeremy Zmuda is the CEO of Faso Energy. “We have a Spanish partner who came to install the entire production unit. So at the moment we have a European production unit with trained staff. We therefore have a quality product that we can provide guarantees to local consumers on. “
The quality of solar installations is one of the goals that the Ministry of Energy is looking for in a country that is overwhelmed by cheap panels. Bachir Ouedraogo is the Minister of Energy of Burkinabè. “We are flooded with panels of dubious quality. Also with the dumping mechanism, there are refurbished panels shipped to Africa and Burkina Faso and we told ourselves that the best way to be able to control the quality is to be able to produce ourselves. ”
The Agency for the Promotion of Renewable Energy and the authorities are setting up a certification system for imported solar panels, in particular in order not to penalize local production. The Faso Energy plant, for its part, benefits from incentives to make it competitive with cheap imports.
Jeremy Zmuda: “We have some facilities at the fiscal level, at the level of the investment code and the VAT exemption, which allows us to fight on equal terms.”
The government’s goal is broader, that is to control the entire solar industry. Thus, Faso Energy receives public orders. Sixteen power plants are currently under development in Burkina Faso. Bachir Ouedarogo. “We will do our utmost to enable the Burkinabè industry to live and sell its panels, to participate in building the energy sector nationwide. By letting them build power plants and support us in this energy policy that we are in the process of implementing. . “
Within five years, Burkina Faso will have installed a total capacity of 500 megawatts of solar energy. The country also intends to develop a warehousing industry. The Ministry of Energy is in talks with an industrialist about a factory for the manufacture of batteries for household use.
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