The CEO of Serengeti Energy, Chris Bale has announced that the 5MW Baoma 1 solar PV plant in Sierra Leone has successfully reached commercial operations.

According to reports, Serengeti Energy, the company building the country’s first Solar plant has turned on the 5MW PV Solar independent project The 5MW solar installation is located in Yamandu, Southern Sierra Leone.

This 5MW PV is part of the Baoma 1 installation and was developed by the Kenya-based company and built under a public-private partnership.

The project will reportedly add approximately 15% to Sierra Leone’s total electricity generation capacity.

Chris Bale explained that this development has been achieved through strong collaboration between EDSA and the entire Serengeti Energy team.

He added that experts from Serengeti will start building the second phase of the project later this year.

Bale disclosed that the entire project will require an investment of $35 million and will bring the total capacity to 25MW, adding that the company will sell electricity to Sierra Leone’s national distributor Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA

“The project will supply low-cost electricity to the local power grid for many years to come and will help to diversify the electricity mix in the country,” he noted.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Sierra Leone had a cumulative solar capacity of 4MW in 2021.