A 44 MW solar photovoltaic project with battery storage is being developed in Banyo, in Cameroon’s Adamawa region. Socadel, formerly Eneo, is already working on a program to add solar generation to the local thermal power plant. The new project is being promoted by the Foundation for Development of Ecology & Humankind, Fondecoh, in partnership with the Banyo municipal council and Supernova Energy, according to the Electricity Sector Regulatory Agency, Arsel.
The developers presented the project to the regulator on September 8, 2026, in Yaoundé. The proposed facility includes a 44 MW solar photovoltaic plant paired with battery storage, although Arsel did not specify the storage system’s power rating or energy capacity. The plant would supply electricity to Banyo and surrounding communities.
At the announced capacity, the project is far larger than the solar installations planned under the isolated thermal power plant hybridization program now being implemented by Socadel. Cameroon’s Energy Compact, developed under Mission 300, provides for a combined 7.2 MWp of solar capacity across six sites: Banyo, Ngaoundal, Yoko, Touboro, Moloundou and Yokadouma. The 44 MW announced for Banyo is slightly more than six times the combined capacity planned across the six sites, although the two figures, expressed in MW and MWp respectively, are not strictly comparable.
The program was launched under Eneo. In November 2023, the utility issued an international tender covering the design, financing and construction of six solar plants, as well as the sale of the electricity generated to Eneo. Banyo was included in the same lot as Touboro and Ngaoundal. The Energy Compact later set a target for contracts to be awarded and construction to begin by the end of 2025, followed by full commissioning of the facilities in 2026.
Grid Connection, Buyer and Financing Still Unknown
The 44 MW project remains at a preliminary stage. Arsel has not reported the award of a generation license, the signing of a power purchase agreement or financial close. The investment cost, construction schedule, grid connection point, connection voltage, expected annual generation and storage capacity have also not been disclosed.
These parameters are particularly important in Banyo, which has historically been supplied by an isolated power system. Data published under Eneo show that the locality has 1,968 kW of installed thermal generation capacity. That figure alone is not enough to determine whether the existing network could accommodate a 44 MW solar plant. Such an assessment would depend in particular on how the power would be connected and transmitted, any network expansion, storage capacity and local electricity demand.
Another 3.5 MW Hybrid Plant Announced
The project promoted by Fondecoh and Supernova Energy is not the only renewable energy initiative announced in Banyo. Renewable Power Cameroon says it is developing a 3.5 MW hybrid system in the area comprising 1.5 MW of small hydropower at the Tapadje Yayya falls, 2 MW of solar photovoltaic capacity, 3.9 MWh of battery storage and 35 km of 30 kV main power lines.
The company says it is developing the project with the Banyo municipal council and with approval from the Rural Electrification Agency. That claim, however, comes from the developer. No public document from the agency confirming the approval has been identified.
Available public information does not establish how the 44 MW solar project, the hybridization program now being implemented by Socadel and the 3.5 MW system announced by Renewable Power Cameroon relate to one another. It also does not specify Supernova Energy’s exact legal identity or the developers’ technical and financial track record for a project of this scale.
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