2023-10-23 00:14:56
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The Millennium challenge account Benin II (Mca-Benin II) program has come to an end. In an interview with ”La Nation”, Joël Akowanou, director of operations of Mca-Benin II, took stock of the program and takes a prospective look at the future of the energy sector in Benin.
What is his assessment of the Electricity Production project: During the interview, Joël Akowanou, director of operations of Mca-Benin II, indicated that the achievements of the program are essentially oriented around supporting the Beninese government in the dynamic which made it possible to recruit an independent producer of electricity. According to it, the program supported the government until the commercial closure phase. “The activities that support this transaction that the program has carried out are everything related to securing the sites housing the four solar power plants of Bohicon (15MWh), Parakou (15MWh), Djougou (10MWh) and Natitingou (10MWh). So, it was a question of securing the land at the four solar power plants. And when we talk about securing land, there have been a lot of related activities such as compensation for people affected by the project,” he explained.
What to remember about the electricity distribution aspect: At this level, the director of operations of Mca-Benin II, noted that the Mca-Benin II program has built and rehabilitated substations at the national level, overhead and underground power lines and also changed the voltage plans. “We rehabilitated the power lines but in addition to that, there was the major project to build the dispatching center in Benin which is new. When we talk about dispatching, it’s an electrical control tower so we are in innovative technologies,” he added. In addition to dispatching, Joël Akowanou also specified that there were other interventions at the level of the electricity network, in particular the development of manuals, the execution of studies, etc. “For example, we commissioned a study on network protection, which we made available to local energy companies, in this case Sbee, but also to Ceb,” he says. These studies, according to him, will allow these companies to draw inspiration from them to be able to develop a more efficient electrical system or network against different bad weather.
What about access to off-grid electricity:As for this project, Joël Akowanou, director of operations of Mca-Benin II, confided that the program was first dedicated to developing a conducive environment for off-grid electrification, “that is to say “to put in place a regulatory framework which allows foreign investors to be able to carry out rural electrification”. Thus, he continues, the program launched several calls for projects to identify projects using renewable energy and those which were selected covered a certain number of segments. “First there were projects that cover essential public infrastructure. Developers had to install solar pumps and solar street lights so that communities could be powered. There was the category of mini networks which experienced a boom, because many private promoters were interested in coming to sell electricity in Benin, of course, by signing a concession agreement with the State represented by the Aberme. These promoters, today, are building mini networks throughout the Beninese territory. We have palpable testimonies where people have told us: we no longer need to go to Cotonou to watch television,” he said.
Between the lines : For the director of operations of Mca-Benin II, Joël Akowanou, the energy sector is a vast project and each segment must be brought up to standard: production, transport and distribution. However, he stressed that much remains to be done so that Benin is completely independent in the production and distribution of electrical energy.
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