2023-11-23 17:30:04
Just one year ago, at the end of 2022, the village of Okouta-Ossé, in west-central Benin, plunged into almost complete darkness at nightfall. Only a handful of the approximately 2,700 residents had a solar panel to break the darkness. “But that was just enough to power four lamps”remembers Atrice Imorou, one of the few residents equipped at the time.
As with the rest of this town located five hours’ drive from Cotonou, Benin’s economic capital, its daily life was disrupted by the arrival of electricity in February. A mini solar power plant, coupled with a generator, was built on the edge of Okouta-Ossé by the company Les Soleils du Bénin, a joint company between the Beninese SME African Renewable Energy Systems & Solutions (Aress), the French Générale du solar and the NEoT Offgrid Africa investment platform.
In the evening, street lamps now light the streets and a Fifty homes are already supplied. Among the first beneficiaries, Atrice Imorou was able to enrich her income as a yam reseller by plugging in a refrigerator. Today he sells cold drinks to the whole village, while his wife, Rosaline, a seamstress, is in the process of getting rid of her old treadle machine and her coal-fired iron. With modern equipment, “I will be able to work faster and be less tired”, she rejoices. It costs the couple nearly 20,000 CFA francs (30.50 euros) per month. “But, at least, the electricity works all the time, even when it rains, and people can come and plug their phones into our house”continues Atrice Imorou, pointing to a pile of devices being recharged.
Okouta-Ossé is one of the twelve sites selected for the construction of mini hybrid solar power plants during the year by Les Soleils du Bénin, to electrify as many rural and isolated towns. “These are large villages, with economic potential, but in a situation of territorial exclusion. The idea is not just to provide them with electricity but to support their development”insists Léonide Michael Sinsin, the general director of Aress.
Large-scale development
While only 18% of rural Beninese have access to energy (compared to 42% nationally), the authorities of this West African country are very favorable to such a deployment. “If we had to wait for the arrival of the national distribution network, certain localities would risk remaining in the dark for a long timeindicates Pamphille Kpatenon, of the Beninese Rural Electrification Agency. Recourse to the private sector is essential. » In recent years, a new regulatory framework has been put in place to support investments in renewable energy and, according to Mr. Kpatenon, the country should have 90 mini-grids by the end of 2024.
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