Burkina Faso

50 kWp Mini-grid in a 40ft container

Date of completion Juin 2016
Budget 95 000€
Number of sites 1
Container type PowerTainer
Funding
SMEG sources d’énergies
Croix Rouge de Monaco
Client
ENGIE INEO

Summary

Supply of a fully wired and set power unit for a 50kWp mini-grid with a 48V 3600Ah battery bank, 6 units 8kVA reversible inverters and 4 units 12 kWac gird tied inverters. This container is used for the headquarters of Red Cross in Ougadougou.

The Principality of Monaco participated in the Milan 2015 Universal Exhibition on the theme “Feeding the planet, energy for life” by designing a modular flag, based on maritime containers, with the aim of redirecting it to an international solidarity project. For this “second life”, the government chose the idea proposed by Croix-Rouge de Monaco (CRM) to reuse this pavilion to integrate it into a project to build a multi-purpose training centre. This centre, which opened its doors in 2017 in Burkina Faso, on a 6.5 hectare site on the outskirts of the capital Ouagadougou, provides accommodation and is used in particular for first aid training in West Africa.

The CRM asked SMEG to optimise the energy efficiency of this centre in order to preserve its environment as effectively as possible, to minimise operating costs and to guarantee the continuity of power supply as effectively as possible.

The study that was carried out concluded that for the desired objective, the solar hybrid solution, designed on the principle of the isolated site, is the one that offers the best guarantees in terms of power supply.

It consists of supplying the pavilion jointly with the public electricity grid and photovoltaic production associated with a battery park ensuring continuity of supply in the event of load shedding or disconnection from the grid.

The main characteristics of this renewable energy production facility are as follows :

  • A photovoltaic field with a power of 56kWp
  • A fleet of 225 kWh stationary batteries
  • A set of inverters to supply the pavilion with three-phase power

The annual energy produced is about 100 MWh, which represents the electricity consumption of about 30 households of 4 people in France for one year. This production also limits consumption on the public electricity grid. The budget required to carry out this operation is €250,000 excluding VAT.

The installation of high-rise solar modules protects the containers in the technical area of the operation and thus limits temperature increases. All power and control equipment is centralized and installed in a 40-foot container, similar to those used in the pavilion.

A control and monitoring equipment with a graphical interface is installed. It allows to visualize in real time the different energy flows within the installation as well as the precise state of charge of the batteries. Subject to an available Internet connection, the installation of a modem makes it possible to monitor the installation remotely, via a powerful datalogging system provided by the equipment supplier.

SMEG has been strongly involved in the design of this humanitarian project.