Microgrid
ProjectsSubmit a project

Home / Directory / Kiffa Hybrid Microgrid Project

Africa & Middle East / Commercial & demonstration

Kiffa Hybrid Microgrid Project

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations5
System facts20
Sources reviewed8
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

Kiffa is an operating 6.3 MW solar-thermal plant about 13 km from Kiffa, Mauritania, supplying Kiffa and Guérou through a 33 kV network. It combines 1.3 MWp of PV with four HFO-capable engine-generators totaling 5 MW. Vergnet delivered the solar portion and ABC Contracting/ABC Engines the thermal portion under SOMELEC/AFD-EU sponsorship. Unlike some generic microgrid listings, it has no documented battery: renewable variability is balanced by dispatchable thermal generation on the isolated regional grid.

Research status
Operating but capacity-constrained and undergoing maintenance. Commissioning is reported as April 2018, with public inauguration in May 2019. An AFD evaluation found the installed capacity insufficient for demand growth by 2020 because a planned expansion had been delayed. The PV plant produced nearly 2.3 GWh in 2021 with strong measured performance, while SOMELEC's 2025 procurement records show an ABB motor rewinding service and planned replacement of failed generating set No. 1, evidence of continued use but also equipment issues.
Historical classification
Community
Reported capacity
6,300 kW
Coordinates
16.62584, -11.40553
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Kiffa Hybrid Microgrid Project?

5 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

ABC Contracting / Anglo Belgian Corporation

EPC and engine supplier for the 5 MW heavy-fuel-oil thermal component. [5][4]

Organization

Agence Française de Développement and European Union

Financiers for the plant, Kiffa-Guérou line, substations, distribution reinforcement, and household connections. [3][7]

Organization

Ministry of Petroleum, Energy and Mines of Mauritania

Contracting authority for the plant and associated regional electricity infrastructure. [4]

Organization

Société Mauritanienne d'Électricité (SOMELEC)

Delegated project authority, owner/operator, network utility, and current maintenance procurer. [4][3][6]

Organization

Vergnet

EPC/equipment provider for the 1.3 MWp solar component and hybrid integration partner. [5][4]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Solar
1300 [1]
KW Gas/Diesel
5000 [1]
Total generation
6.3 MW: 1.3 MWp solar PV plus 5 MW thermal generation [4][5]
PV array
4,320 modules, 36 strings, fixed at 15° tilt facing south [4]
PV inverters
Two ABB PVS800-57-630 kW units [4]
Thermal units
Four 750 rpm engines: two 1,000 kW and two 1,500 kW, with four 400 V/50 Hz alternators; HFO is the documented primary fuel and the original design also referenced LFO/HFO capability [4][5]
Grid and service area
0.4/33 kV plant interconnection and approximately 60 km Kiffa-Guérou medium-voltage link, serving both towns and settlements along the route [4][3][7]
2021 PV performance
Approximately 2.3 GWh; annual performance ratio 86.33%, capacity factor 19.91%, inverter efficiency 98.31%, final yield 4.78 h/day, and array yield 4.86 h/day [4]
Financing
€23.8 million cited by the Mauritanian legislative account: €19 million AFD loan plus €4.9 million EU grant (rounding causes a €0.1 million arithmetic difference) [7]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

PV inverters

ABB — PVS800-57-630 kW

Two central inverters; the study reports 98.31% average inverter efficiency for the 2021 monitoring year. [4]

02

Thermal engines and alternators

Anglo Belgian Corporation

Four 750 rpm HFO engine-generator sets arranged as two 1 MW and two 1.5 MW units. Commercial engine model numbers are not consistently documented in the reviewed plant-specific sources. [5][4]

03

PV modules

Model not publicly disclosed

The performance paper identifies 4,320 polycrystalline-silicon modules but the reviewed accessible text does not reliably expose the module manufacturer/model. [4]

04

Hybrid plant control

Model not publicly disclosed

A plant command/control system coordinates PV and thermal production on the isolated 33 kV network. No battery energy-storage system is listed by the EPC, AFD, government, or performance sources. [8][4]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • General

    The project integrates the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) of a 1.3 MWp solar PV plant along with a 5 MW thermal (LFO/HFO) plant. [1]

  • General

    The new plant will replace the existing power plants in the two towns (diesel generators) and will be the only generating station on Kiffa’s isolated electrical grid. [1]

  • General

    To achieve this innovative project, Vergnet entered a partnership with ABC DIESEL. [1]

  • Operating model

    PV reduces fuel use while the four synchronous thermal units provide dispatchability and grid support. The plant was conceived as the sole central station on Kiffa's isolated grid and later linked Guérou; it is a hybrid power station rather than a battery-centered microgrid. [4][3]

  • Measured results

    Analysis of January-December 2021 supervisory data estimated that the PV portion displaced more than 550 tonnes of fossil fuel. Dust and high summer module temperatures produced seasonal capture losses, while annual inverter and system performance remained strong. [4]

  • Delivery delay and adequacy

    AFD judged the project successful but reported that accumulated implementation delays erased the demand-growth margin: an extension expected by 2017-2018 had not occurred, and installed capacity was already insufficient by 2020. [3]

  • Current maintenance signal

    SOMELEC's 2025 procurement plan calls for replacing failed unit No. 1 with a new engine, while a September 2025 notice sought rewinding of an ABB electric motor at the plant. These records support operating relevance but also flag reduced thermal availability pending repair/replacement. [6]

Provenance

8 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2021-02-26

  2. [2]
    Read More From Vergnet

    vergnet.com · Archived source · captured 2021-02-26

  3. [3]
  4. [4]
  5. [5]
    Kiffa Hybrid Power Plant

    ABC Contracting · Primary source

  6. [6]
  7. [7]
  8. [8]

Continue exploring

Related projects in Africa & Middle East