Emirati investor Hussain Al-Nowais’ AMEA Power launches West Africa’s largest solar plant in Togo

The Dubai-based clean energy provider AMEA Power has partnered with Togo to launch West Africa’s largest solar plant in the country, CGTN Africa reported.

AMEA Power develops thermal and renewable energy in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

The project had received over $63.7 million (35 billion CFA francs) in loans from the West African Development Bank and Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.

The 50-megawatt facility located in central Togo was built in Blitta, 267 kilometers (165 miles) north of Lome, the country’s capital, by its subsidiary AMEA Togo Solar.

With the launch, the government aims to cut down on power importation, provide electricity to more than 158,000 households, and save over 1 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. Over 50 percent of the energy Togo consumes comes from Nigeria and Ghana.

“This project is the fruit of our ambition to bring universal access to electricity and provide clean and renewable energy to all. I am thrilled it was done in record time,” Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe said.

Hussain Al-Nowais, the company’s chairman, is an Emirati businessman who served on the board of directors of Emirates Steel and the National Petroleum Construction Company. He has also sat on several other boards, including Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Rotana Hotel Management Corporation and Waha Capital. He also currently chairs Al Nowais Investments.

AMEA Power develops, invests, builds, owns and operates clean power generation assets in frontier and emerging markets. Since its launch in 2016, AMEA Power has become a leading fast-growing independent power producer that has opened regional hubs in East Africa, West Africa and North Africa.

It has successfully signed power purchase agreements in Egypt, Chad, Mali, Morocco, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Kenya. In addition, it was awarded a 100MW solar project in Tunisia and projects in Ethiopia, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Central Asia.