Ouagadougou: The Kingdom of Morocco has graciously offered Niger a 22.5 MW thermal power plant with a view to increasing the country’s energy capacities, reports Actu Niger.
Work on the power plant, which will be installed in Niamey, is in progress and, with the arrival last week of the nine (09) generators that will operate it, the technicians in charge of the work estimate that it will be operational by the end of July to allow Nigelec to further satisfy the electricity needs of the capital, we read on the media Actu Niger.
According to the explanations of the Moroccan Ambassador to Niger, El Achab Allal, it was during the visit to Rabat, last December, of the Prime Minister of the transition Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, that His Majesty King Mohammed VI gave its instructions to support the Nigerien authorities in the field of energy.
The country was then faced with a serious electricity deficit following the suspension by Nigeria, which ensured 70% of the country’s supply, of the supply of electricity wit
hin the framework of sanctions taken by the Heads of State of ECOWAS against Niger following the coup d’état of July 26, 2023.
Moroccan experts and technicians from the National Office of Water and Electricity (ONEE) were immediately dispatched to Niamey to assess the needs and emergency measures to be taken to alleviate the country’s energy deficit.
This is how the construction of a thermal power station with a power of 22.5 Mw was envisaged and work began.
Last week, the nine (09) generators from the Centrale arrived in Niamey where they will be installed at the Niamey 2 site in the capital. According to the Moroccan diplomat, the work will be completed by the end of July and the plant will be delivered ‘turnkey’.
‘This plant is a good example of a win-win bilateral partnership,’ said the Minister of Energy, Professor Haoua Amadou, who visited last Thursday, accompanied by the Moroccan Ambassador El Achab Allal. and Nigelec officials, at the site where the work is continuing, to see their progress first
hand.
She took the opportunity to express all her recognition and gratitude, on behalf of the authorities and populations of Niger, to the Moroccan people and their Sovereign, for this noble gesture which required a significant investment, the amount of which was not disclosed.
The construction of this plant will considerably increase the capacities of Nigelec, the public company in charge of the production, transport and distribution of electricity, which will thus be able to further satisfy the needs of the populations of the capital and the river regions.
Source: Burkina Information Agency