Siemens has announced partnership with a Nigerian company to set up large-scale solar power projects.
CT Cosmos, an Abuja-based company, has concluded a memorandum of understanding with Siemens to set up a 70 MW (AC) solar photovoltaic power plant. The project is expected to be commissioned in fewer than 2 years.
CT Cosmos hopes that the power plant will prove to be a milestone in Nigeria’s power sector. Solar power has not taken off significantly in Nigeria as cost of generation has been at a significant premium to conventional power sources. However, the cost of generation of solar power projects has fallen significantly and several international project developers are now looking to expand footprint in African solar power market.
Last year, several international developers signed agreements with the Nigerian government to set up large-scale solar power capacities over the next few years.
Solius NGPC, Peoples Home Association, and Solar Force Nigeria Limited signed agreements with the Nigerian government to set up 1 GW solar power capacity through utility-scale and distributed solar power projects.
Peoples Home Association announced that it will set up 500 MW; Solar Force Nigeria Limited will set up 200 small-scale projects of 1 MW each across as many villages; and Solius NGC is expected to set up 300 MW capacity — however, the size and type of the projects is unknown.
SkyPower FAS Energy also announced plans to set up 3 GW of solar power capacity in Nigeria over the next 5 years. The total investment for setting up these projects is expected to be around $5 billion.
