Abuja, 28^th February 2018. As a befitting legacy for ECOWAS, the President of the ECOWAS Commission Mr. Marcel de Souza on the 28^th of February 2018, flagged off a 20 KVA mini solar power plant at the Commission’s headquarters, Abuja, Nigeria.

Apart from emitting clean energy, the plant is meant to help reduce the electricity bill of the Commission as one of the strategies for the implementation of the cost saving policy and heavy expenditure reduction of the operational budget of the Commission.

Costing a total of 126.587.984 CFA, the Plant with an estimated 29 MWh annual output is jointly financed by the ECOWAS Commission and the government of Spain.

An elated President de Souza expressed his delight at the opportune moment and having the honour of commissioning the central solar plant. He stressed that the 50 percent cost sharing formula with the Spanish partners is a pragmatic step towards ensuring sustainability.

He thereafter inspected the components of the plants in the company of the ECOWAS Commission’s Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security Mrs Halima Ahmed as well as the Commissioners for Telecommunications and Information Technology and Administration and Conference Dr. Isaias Barreto Olimpio Da Rosa and Mr. Stephen Nartey respectively. They were led on tour by technical facilitator Mr. Samuel Kofi Balo.

On the heels of the introduction of the Plant by the ECOWAS Director, General Administration Mr. Daniel Eklu, Commissioner Nartey had earlier disclosed that work on the Plant had reached full cycle before the President’s flag off making way for a supplemented permanent source of supply of electricity while ensuring that the Commission gets stable lightening at strategic points.

The installation of the mini solar power station was carried out by ZED-SA of Mali, a specialized solar energy company. Generally the plant possesses one tray of solar panels of 300 watt each as well as inverters-storage container, converters and other solar materials.

The project spans both internal and external space lightening with a total of 130 lamps of both 15 and 30 Watts. It has a 15 years battery life span but with continuous renewable provisions.

The solar project was initiated in 2012 as a cost saving, safe alternative to energy consumption. That year, an ECOWAS delegation led by the erstwhile Director, Administration Mrs Halima Ahmed was dispatched to Spain to firm up negotiations on behalf of the ECOWAS Commission.