BURKINA FASO: Support the Power Mining Integration to extend Access to Electricity

PPIAF funded a PPP options study of an electricity production project at Banfora gold mine in the region of Cascades to increase the energy supply of Burkina Faso by capitalizing on the solvent demand of the mining production zones. The consultants’ proposed technical solution is an innovative 23.6 MWp solar plant combined with 35 MWh of battery storage which would be the largest hybrid project on the continent. The hybrid plant can provide up to 55 percent of the mine’s needs while the other 45 percent would be coming from the heavy fuel oil (HFO) plant owned by the mining company and/or the grid reducing GHG emissions and supporting Burkina Faso’s mitigation targets as presented in its NDC. Plus, the hybridization enables a reduction in the mine electricity cost of almost USD 4c per kWh compared with the base case scenario where the mine would use only its HFO. The agreed institutional structure enables (i) La Société Nationale d’Electricité du Burkina (SONABEL), the State utility, to keep the mine as a creditworthy large consumer supporting SONABEL’s financials; (ii) pilot an innovative auction process in selection of an IPP which would sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with SONABEL but under which the mine’s creditworthiness is used for liquidity and termination guarantee purposes; and (iii) use the mine as an anchor customer to support rural electrification and grid extension.