A groundbreaking ceremony has been held to mark the start of construction of a 5MW solar farm on the Cape Verdean island of São Vicente.

The photovoltaic solar plant is being built over seven hectares in Norte de Baia and will have an annual production capacity of 11GWh. It is the first solar park to be constructed on the island

It is being developed as an independent power project by the local Águas de Ponta Preta (APP), which won the tender in mid-2023. APP was simultaneously awarded a contract to build a 5MW solar plant on the island of Sal

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by energy minister Alexandre Monteiro, who stated that the São Vicente plant will meet more than 15% of the island’s energy needs and the cost of electricity produced would be five times less than the cost of burning fossil fuels

The solar farm is due to begin commercial production in December this year. It will increase the total renewables generation capacity of São Vicente to 12MW

Also this month, on 5 April, the government of Cape Verde signed a deal with Cabeólica to increase the capacity of its wind farm on Santiago from 9MW to 22MW and to add battery storage capacity on the islands of Santiago and Sal.

Some 13MW of turbines will be built at the Monte São Filipe wind farm on Santiago along with battery storage of 5MWh, while 6MWh of storage capacity will be built on Sal

The cost of the project is estimated at €50 million (US$53.7 million). Construction work is due to get underway in July this year, with commercial production slated for June 2025

The European Investment Bank, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the African Development are funding the expansion project

Cabeólica was established in 2008 as a public-private partnership (PPP) between InfraCo Africa, as the main developer, and the government of Cape Verde and national utility Electra. The PPP developed wind farms with a combined capacity of 26.5MW across four of Cape Verde’s islands: Boa Vista, São Vicente, Sal and Santiago. The expansion project will increase their combined capacity to nearly 40MW.

InfraCo Africa divested its shares in Cabeólica in 2016. The AFC and AP Moller Group make up the current the shareholding

The government wants renewables to contribute 30% of Cape Verde’s energy mix by 2025 and 50% by 2030, with the aim of reducing its dependence on costly imported fossil fuels.