Gabon Closes €28m for First Solar-Storage Plant

• Gabon locks financial close for Plaine Ayeme: EUR 28m fuels 30‑MW solar + 8 MWh storage, first step to 60 MW hybrid easing Libreville’s peaks under 25‑year PPA.

Gabon’s first utility-scale solar plant reached financial close as IPP SOLEN SA secured a EUR 28 million loan for phase one of the Plaine Ayeme hybrid project, about 30 km from Libreville. Financing comes from AFRIGREEN and BGFIBank, enabling construction of a 30‑MW solar farm with 8 MWh of battery storage.

The two-stage rollout is backed by a 25-year PPA with the Gabonese state, targeting 60 MW of PV and 30 MWh of storage at full buildout. The hybrid design aims to ease pressure on Libreville’s grid by cutting peak thermal generation, boosting stability, and shifting solar to demand peaks.

How will Gabon’s Plaine Ayeme hybrid project transform Libreville’s grid and peak demand?

• Shifts daytime solar into the evening peak, trimming reliance on costly oil-fired peakers and flattening the city’s load curve
  
• Provides fast frequency and voltage support, cutting the risk of brownouts and improving power quality on stressed feeders
  
• Lowers fuel burn and import needs during peaks, easing utility operating costs and pressure on end-user tariffs
  
• Places generation close to Libreville, reducing transmission losses and relieving congestion on lines feeding the capital
  
• Supplies firm, dispatchable capacity from the storage system, improving the adequacy margin during hot, high-demand periods
  
• Smooths rapid ramps from cloud cover, reducing start–stop cycling and maintenance stress on thermal units
  
• Creates headroom to take thermal plants offline for planned maintenance without jeopardizing peak supply
  
• Defers some substation and line upgrades by delivering localized reactive power and peak shaving
  
• Enhances resilience with potential black-start support and the ability to ride through disturbances, shortening outage durations
  
• Cuts peak-time emissions and urban air pollution, improving health and compliance with climate targets
  
• Establishes a template for additional solar-plus-storage projects, enabling a higher share of renewables on Libreville’s grid over time