Shaping the Future Once Again: Sun in West Africa (Solar PV – Opportunities and Challenges) – EQ Mag Pro

With sustainable solar technology LONGi focuses on PV product manufacturing and PV system solutions, adhering to the brand development concept of stable, reliable and technology leading. The business of LONGi covers the whole industry chain for monocrystalline silicon wafers, cells and modules, distributed PV systems to PV power stations.

The West Africa solar PV Panels market size was valued at USD 78.11 million in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.8% from 2022 to 2030. rising demand for renewable and clean power generation and government policies related to incentives and tax rebates for solar PV systems are expected to drive the growth of the industry over the forecast period. Decreasing prices of solar PV panels around the globe have made solar power a viable alternative for fossil fuel power generation.

During a webinar conducted by EQ Magazine on “Solar PV – Opportunities and Challenges in west african countries and LONGi’s business strategy in the region”, Tony Tiyou, Founder CEO, Editor & Editor in chief Founder, Renewables in Africa (RiA), started the webinar.

“I want to welcome you. I am taking you back into Africa and as we know that COP 27 is going to happen this year in Africa. We also wanted to talk about a sector, an industry that I am sure you are really interested in. I am talking about the SOLAR PV industry specifically looking at West Africa. We are trying to look at the challenges and opportunities. And I’m not the only one doing it, we have very distinguished speakers and panelists that will be able to give you a broad overview of what is happening.

So we have Sayouba Nana from green yellow, Ulrich Dedo from LONGi of course and Diane representing SOLARx. Before moving ahead with the topic Tony requested Mr Ulrich to move ahead with the presentation he had about what LONGi is planning to do in the market now.

Mr Ulrich added, “We, LONGi, have been in the market for almost 20-21 years now, we started off with semiconductor and now we are talking about modules, in the bigger capacity like 50 GW and 70 GW of wafers. We are also moving towards hydrogen.”

“We are also really proud of our investment team and R&D sectors. We are always leading technology advancing innovations.”

“LONGi has a wide range of product applications with their hands in residentials, C&I and ultra large power plants. LONGi can now be termed as one stop PV solutions.”

Mr Tony was curious about, “How do you plan to meet the market needs? Is there any specific strategy or approach about how you have to meet the markets?

UD, “Like I said earlier that at LONGi we are investing heavily in the technology and then we are doing our best to stay on point and on top of the trends. In terms of technology, of course we have already introduced Hi-Mo 5 in the markets which is doing very well from the smaller capacity to the bigger ones. However as you know there is a trend now with new types of high efficiency modules and LONGi is also about to launch a new module by the end of this year. The efficiency of those modules will be at a very good price which also benefits the off-grid projects.”

TT, “Based on your presentation, is there any quick implementation that you can see in the market? And talking about this market, West Africa, Do you have some specific country you want to look at? Or you’re looking for the region at large?

UD, “Of course we are looking at the region at large. But we can not be everywhere at the same time. So yes, countries like Senegal, Nigeria and Ghana will be our main focus at first. Then of course we will be looking at our local partners as well.”

The on-grid type segment accounted for a share of 73.52% of the West Africa solar PV panels market in 2021. The dominant position of the on-grid type segment can be attributed to the low operating and maintenance costs of grid-connected PV systems and their non-complexity. On-grid PV systems have low costs as the excess electricity generated by them is transmitted to grids.

Later in the conversation came in Ms Diane Yakovlev, Deal lead in SolarX and associate – E3 Capital. She said, “We are looking at South Africa and also Mali because we have investments there with SolarX. This market feels interesting and with quite a big potential. Also many investors that actually go there.”

She mentioned other countries as well where they have their footprints in.

The moderator Mr Tony asked Mr Sayouba Nana, Solar project developer, GreenYellow to share the presentation that he had for everyone to watch and learn from. Sayouba explained briefly about the opportunities and challenges in West Africa.

Webinar ended with a few questions by the audience for the speakers.

To conclude Mr Tony added, “We need to have more discussions just like these. The conversation about the land, the security, etc was very interesting.”