Sterling and Wilson to build solar+storage hybrid power plant in Niger

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Sterling and Wilson Pvt Ltd (SWPL), India-based infrastructure engineering, procurement and construction services company, has announced that its Hybrid & Energy Storage division (HES), in consortium partnership with French EPC company Vergnet and SNS Niger, has signed an EPC contract to construct a solar-diesel-storage power plant in Agadez city of West African country Niger.

Tendered by The Nigerian Electricity Company (NIGELEC), the project consists of 18.9 MWp solar and 6.54 MVA (2.18 x 3 MVA) diesel generator capacity. The storage component will be an 11.55MWh/3.0 MVA battery energy storage system (BESS). Setting up a 20 kV substation and evacuation line up to the Nigelec Substation in Agadez is also under the work scope.

The consortium will also be responsible for a two-year operation and maintenance (O&M) service of the power plant.

The project would be Niger’s first ground-mounted solar-diesel-battery storage based power plant and is crucial for Agadez, a city which is located at the gateway to the Sahara Desert and isolated from the rest of the country. 

Speaking on the occasion, Deepak Thakur, CEO-Hybrid & Energy Storage, Sterling and Wilson, said, “We are extremely delighted to have secured another prestigious opportunity in Africa after successfully commissioning Nigeria’s first solar storage hybrid power plant, which is also Africa’s largest battery energy storage system. Hybrid energy solutions is a huge opportunity as many power generation and distribution companies in places like Africa are moving into renewables.”

“As one of the leading turnkey EPC solution providers globally, with project management, engineering and delivery expertise of over 11 GW of diversified energy offerings across geographies, along with our consortium partners, we are committed to deliver this project well on-time, fully complying with the stringent quality and safety standards,” added Thakur.

Battery-based energy storage enables generated electricity to be stored and delivered at any given time, providing stability to the grid and enabling energy delivered on demand. It will also aid flexibility and agility to better integrate solar and diesel energy into the city’s electricity grid and ensure quality power.

The project also includes the rehabilitation of the city of Agadez’s electrical network, which does not allow the evacuation of electricity to and within the city, and the electrification of the neighbouring hamlet of Tibinitene. 

O&M services will comprise complete system and rehabilitation of the electrical network of the city of Agadez, and the electrification of the neighbouring hamlet of Tibinitene. The consortium will provide project management assistance and institutional support to train engineers and technicians of Nigelec in photovoltaic technologies to enable them to operate large-scale solar power plants in the short term and to ensure smooth functioning of the plant even after two years. 

 

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