Owner’s engineering for Benin’s first utility-scale solar power plant

3E, Egnon Consulting and Socrège have been assigned by the Société Béninoise d’Energie Électrique (SBEE) to provide owner’s engineering services for Benin’s first utility-scale solar power plant.

The DEFISSOL solar power plant is located on a 26-hectare site in the southeast of the country, in the council of Pobè. Initially planned with a capacity of 25MWp, the Illoulofin solar plant will finally have a capacity of 50 MWp, announced the Beninese government in December 2021.

Scope of the work

The consortium supported the client during all the phases of the project: from the selection of the EPC and O&M parties (Eiffage Energies Systèmes), to the monitoring of the construction and operations phases. While paying special attention to environmental and social aspects linked to the project, the consortium aims to ensure the high quality and conformity of the work, high production capacity, as well as capacity building.

The Illoulofin plant

Construction work officially began in Nov 2020. The initial 25 MW are expected to be completed by April 2022. The DEFISSOL plant will help generate 35 GWh of electricity per year. It will distribute clean energy for around 180,000 people while creating local jobs and preserving the environment.

3E as owner’s engineer

Juan Luis Agarrado, Sub-Saharan Regional Manager at 3E: “As Project Director, I’m proud to coordinate and work closely together with our local counterpart, Egnon Consulting, assuring that technical and contractual requirements are met as well as providing comprehensive consulting services in all project phases. Our job is to simultaneously enhance opportunities, reduce overall risk, and ensure a deliverable that is closer to the owner’s expectations.

3E has played a significant role during all project phases, with special support during procurement, engineering design verification, factory acceptance tests and construction supervision support. Also, 3E will play an important role during commissioning once the plant is finalized in the coming months.”

Testimonial from the client

M. Bagri, Industrial maintainer and DEFISSOL Project Solar Manager at the SBEE:

“My impressions of work done with 3E are very positive. I particularly appreciated the professionalism in the design review and the negotiations concerning guarantees and certifications in line with the protection of the Project Owner”.

This project is financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Union.

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