In Africa, access to electricity is still far from systematic, particularly in some sub-Saharan countries where the major production and distribution infrastructures are usually insufficient to supply all the inhabitants. Added to this is the precarious situation in which some populations live, which complicates access to a resource that is considered vital in more affluent regions of the world. For a long time, the simplest solution for electrifying isolated rural areas was to use diesel generators and local power distribution networks. Today, the aim is to hybridise this production, which is polluting and highly dependent on fluctuating oil prices, by making maximum use of solar energy, and at the same time developing mini-grids to distribute this electricity locally.

The Malian agency for the development of domestic energy and rural electrification (Amader) conducts this type of project in Mali. Artelia is assisting it in the implementation of the SHER programme, financially supported by the World Bank, and the PHARE programme, by the French Development Agency (AFD). The aim of these two projects is to supply electricity to almost a hundred localities in Mali. As part of the SHER project, our teams are supervising the creation of hybrid power plants (with a combined output of 5.9 MWp) and the battery storage associated with this solar production (with a combined output of 26.3 MWh). They are also overseeing the creation of mini-grids that will give around fifty villages access to electricity.