Energy access is pivotal in driving economic development and enhancing living standards. Burkina Faso is a developing country, with only 19% of the population having access to electricity in 2021. The study's main objective is to perform a comprehensive techno-economic analysis of a 100 MW centralised solar PV power plant in Burkina Faso. The study investigates three distinct scenarios: (1) electricity generation for grid supply, (2) hydrogen production through water electrolysis, and (3) ammonia synthesis from hydrogen and atmospheric nitrogen. RETScreen software was used to conduct the solar PV system's technical, economic, and emission analyses. In addition, mathematical modelling was adopted to compute hydrogen and ammonia production potential. The results indicate that LCOE, which varies from 0.089 USD/kWh in Djibo to 0.095 USD/kWh in Bonfora, is significantly lower than the residential and business electricity tariffs in Burkina Faso. Similarly, the LCOH ranges from 5.21 USD/kg to 5.52 USD/kg and is comparable to the regional studies. Theoretically, only 1% of the electricity produced from the PV system would be required to generate hydrogen to produce 72.6 kt of ammonia fertiliser for the 6.1 million hectares of arable land in Burkina Faso. Furthermore, Djibo had the highest carbon dioxide emissions potential savings, ranging from 24 ktCO 2 /GWh for 25% electricity generation to 95 ktCO 2 /GWh for 100% electricity generation. The findings of this study provide key insights into the feasibility and potential benefits of deploying centralised solar PV systems in Burkina Faso. The findings could be helpful to stakeholders in developing the Burkina Faso solar PV sector for sustainable development.
Odoi-Yorke et al. (2025) studied this question.