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The power station will be built in phases, with the first phase of 25 megawatts capacity followed by the second phase of equal magnitude. The energy from this solar plant will be integrated into the Beninese national electricity grid, during the 25 years of the solar farm's expected lifespan.
The solar farm is under development by the Government of Benin, with funding from the European Union (EU), the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Beninese Electricity Company (SBEE). The power station will be built in phases, with the first phase of 25 megawatts capacity followed by the second phase of equal magnitude.
The Beninese government selected the French engineering and construction conglomerate Eiffage to design, construct, operate, maintain the solar farm for the first three years of commercial operation, then transfer it to SBEE. Eiffage in turn, tasked two of its subsidiaries, Eiffage Énergie Systèmes and RMT to carry out the task.
Decarbonisation requires renewable energy sources, which are intermittent, and this requires large amounts of energy storage to cope with this intermittency. Flow batteries offer a new freedom in the design of energy handling. The flow battery concept permits to adjust electrical power and stored energy capacity independently.
The main difference between flow batteries and other rechargeable battery types is that the aqueous electrolyte solution usually found in other batteries is not stored in the cells around the positive electrode and negative electrode. Instead, the active materials are stored in exterior tanks and pumped toward a flow cell membrane and power stack.
The energy storage capacity of a flow battery can be easily increased by adding larger tanks to store more electrolyte. This is a key advantage over solid-state batteries, like lithium-ion, where scaling up often requires more complex and expensive modifications.
Since a flow battery can store and discharge a reliable amount of electricity for almost half a day, it provides a way for utilities to avoid overproduction and an avenue to alleviate the stress of too much energy on the grid infrastructure.
Distributed solar generation capacity grew from less than 1 gigawatt (GW) in 2018 to 40 GW in 2025 through June, accounting for 43% of all electricity capacity additions over that period. In 2012, Brazil implemented net metering policies, which have recently contributed to large increases in distributed solar generation capacity.
Brazil is blessed with solar radiation resources and has become one of the pioneers in the development of renewable energy in South America. Today, Brazil's distributed installed capacity has surpassed centralized power stations, accounting for 71% of the total installed capacity.
Brazil expects to have 1.2 million solar power generation systems in the year 2024. Solar energy has great potential in Brazil, with the country having one of the highest levels of insolation in the world at 4.25 to 6.5 sun hours/day. As of 2019, Brazil generated nearly 45% of its energy, or 83% of its electricity, from renewable sources.
The total installed solar power in Brazil was estimated at 53.9 GW at February 2025, which consists of about 21.9% of the country's electricity matrix. In 2023, Brazil was the 6th country in the world in terms of installed solar power capacity (37.4 GW).
