Paris based firm to build two solar plants in Northern Nigeria

GreenWish Partners, a Paris-based investment company focused on renewable energy in sub-Saharan Africa, plans to build two solar plants in northern Nigeria with a total capacity of 100 megawatts, Bloomberg reports.

The construction of the two 50 megawatts facilities will start next year and is expected to cost $130 million to $150 million, Chief Executive Officer Charlotte Aubin-Kalaidjian said in a telephone interview from the French capital. One of the plants will be located in Kaduna state, she said, declining to mention where the second site would be. Both plants will be connected to the national grid, she said.

“Nigeria is a very interesting market as it presents all the characteristics we’re looking for with regard to energy,” Aubin-Kalaidjian said. “There’s a high dependence on fuel oil and diesel, which are expensive and unreliable sources of energy, and there’s a political will to develop solar energy, especially in the northern regions where gas is less available.”