On February 3, 2020, the Togolese authorities launched construction work on a photovoltaic solar power plant in Blitta, a town located 270 km north of Lomé.

Financed by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), the West African Development Bank (BOAD) and the Togolese State, the project will be carried out in two phases according to the ministry in charge of energy. “The first phase of 30 MW to be commissioned at the end of June 2020 and the second phase of 20 MW to follow at the end of October 2020”, it says.

“This plant will bring about an improvement in the quality of the supply of electrical energy at the national level. The implementation of the project will create new jobs for the population and income-generating activities,” according to a note from the Presidency of the Republic.

Present at the ceremony chaired by Faure Gnassingbé, the president of BOAD, Christian Adovelande hailed a "structuring project" whose realization "with a multiplier effect is essential to enable our countries to achieve emergence".

"We are delighted to contribute to the national strategy and the achievement of the National Development Plan by developing the first large-scale solar project in the country," said Hussain Al Nowais, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AMEA Power Company. The latter will operate the plant for 25 years before transferring the facilities to the State at the end of the concession.

As a reminder, the government also plans to set up two solar power plants in Kara (420 km north of Lomé) and Sokodé (340 km north of Lomé) for a total cumulative installed capacity of between 60 and 80 MWac. A notice of prequalification for the granting of concessions was launched last January for this purpose.

The country aims to provide each of the five economic regions with a solar power plant, according to the National Electrification Strategy which aims to provide access to energy for all Togolese by 2030, against a current rate of nearly 30 %.