Two African energy companies, Groupe Filatex and Dera Energy, have partnered to develop a total of 170 MW of solar power capacity in Madagascar. Groupe Filatex has been present in the Madagascan energy landscape for 12 years and is a large private energy producer in the country, while, Dera Energy is a developer of hydroelectric and solar power plants in Africa. Together, the two partners plan to build three kinds of solar power plants, hybrid power plants to support existing heavy fuel oil plants, fixed solar power plants and mobile power plants.
Through these projects, they aim to cater to more than a million households by the end of the year 2021. These solar power projects are planned to set up in the localities of Tamatave, Tulear, Diego, Majenga, Nosy Be and Antananarivo. A majority of these solar projects are planned to be connected to national power grid and the power supplied through Jirama, the Malagasy electricity company. However, with some rural regions not connected to the national grid, minigrids will be set up for distribution of solar power.
Through this partnership, these two companies want to participate in the diversification of the country’s energy mix according to the government’s plans. The country’s government has lately been focusing on reducing its dependence on hydrocarbons and hydropower for meeting its power requirements.