Solarize Africa: The case of Madagascar

Africa is too wide to be summarized as a single market, and that’s a common mistake made by many, especially in the northern hemisphere. However, one aspect of solar in Africa applies to the entire continent: its tremendous solar resource. From the desertic areas of the Sahara to the savanna zones in the south and the lush forests in its center, Africa is never short of solar energy but struggles to deploy PV as fast as other continents. The reasons are multiple, from incumbents to financing limitations, from skills to the lack of political willingness (but this is changing fast). But PV development is accelerating beyond the 20 GW installed at the end of 2025, and the reason is not only the need to acceleration electrification rate, but the tremendous impact of rising oil and gas prices.

The case of Madagascar will be discussed here: an island nation in the Indian Ocean, faces one of the most severe energy crises in Africa. With an extremely low electrification rate (depending on the interpretation of numbers, as little as 14% of the population could be considered electrified), most of its population relies on a mix of hydropower systems and diesel generators—a costly and unsustainable solution. The high price of oil, compounded by logistical challenges in transporting fuel across the country’s rugged terrain, has made electricity prohibitively expensive. Main local utility Jirama operates at a loss, as government-imposed price caps prevent them from passing the full cost of generation onto consumers. The result? Electricity is frequently rationed, with many communities experiencing blackouts for several hours each day.

Political unrest at the end of 2025, that led to the exile of the former president André Rajoelina and a temporary takeover by the army was driven by recurring rolling blackouts, as well as water shortages, managed by the very same utility. While we won’t focus on the latest, aging infrastructure and uncompetitive electricity costs are a permanent burden for minority of the population with access to electricity.

In this context, a consortium of several companies, driven by Enerdeal, now a Belgian subsidiary of Portuguese utility EDP, Becquerel Institute and several additional players have developed a series of solar hybridization projects in the country aimed at integrating solar PV systems—and in some cases, battery storage—with existing diesel generators.

These projects, implemented in five locations, offer a glimpse into how renewable energy can reduce costs, improve reliability, and pave the way for a more sustainable energy future in Madagascar, and at large in sub-Saharan Africa.

This paper explores the technical, economic, and social implications of these projects, as well as the broader lessons they hold for electrification efforts across Africa, based on the lessons learnt from these solar projects from 2016 to 2026.

Madagascar’s energy crisis: A background

Madagascar’s low electrification rate remains among the lowest in the world. In rural areas, access to electricity is scarce, forcing communities to rely on kerosene lamps, diesel generators, and a variety of small solar home systems. Or simply no electricity at all. Even in urban centers, the grid is unreliable and expensive, with frequent power cuts disrupting daily life, businesses, and education. Some days, cuts can amount to 8 days per day or more, plunging entire neighborhoods of the capital city Antananarivo in the dark.

Equipment has been adapted to the blackouts and small LED bulbs with several hours of battery storage are now common in the country, together with small diesel generators in most hotels, restaurants or administrative centers. Small diesel generators are used as backup power in wealthy places.

The primary sources of electricity in Madagascar include hydropower and diesel generators, with a growing share of solar electricity. But the total electricity consumption barely reached 2.5 TWh in the last years, the equivalent of 12% of a city like Brussels for instance, while the country has a population approaching 34 millions. Electrification rate officially reached 40%, if people served by 20W PV modules with a small battery and charging ports for mobile devices are accounted. The real electrification rate is significantly lower, while increasing in recent years.

Most regional cities use electricity through local mini-grids, in general a backbone coming from one or several diesel-powered plants. Diesel-generators are common as central power plants in mini-grids, because of the relatively low investment cost and the existence of local expertise.  

The fast development of solar power, pushed by the current government, Jirama and local authorities, is fueled by the need to electrify much faster, but also primarily by high fuel costs of imported oil, with price being even higher in remote locations, due to internal transport costs and additional local “taxes”. The recent geopolitical events having triggered a massive increase in oil prices, this has led to further issues with energy costs. While oil prices also impact road transport, several African countries are moving towards electric mobility. The case of Ethiopia that has banned the import of ICE vehicles is exemplary, while several countries are pushing for a faster electrification of two- and three-wheelers. While this won’t be discussed here, it represents also a driver for fast solar-driven electrification.  

In this situation, Solar represents the most obvious solution and is poised to developing fast, because of its versatility (newly with competitive battery storage). Most utility-scale solar plants cover just some MW and complement an existing diesel generator. Battery storage starts being added and is expected to develop fast in the coming years, with the recent importation of components worth hundreds of MW.

As experienced first-hand, PV is sometimes plagued by maintenance issues such as lack of spare parts, missing skills, badly adapted training material from developed countries. This could be solved by smarter training of maintenance teams, standardization of components and better maintenance contract. Incumbents operating diesel plants must be treated with respect and understanding, since solar is obviously reducing their initial business, leading to possible confrontations and limited cooperation. This also can be solved smartly, since adding solar might prove more profitable than the existing plants.

Finally, hydropower exists and could be developed, however limited to a few regions and vulnerable to droughts, which have become more frequent due to climate change. Development times are considerably higher than solar or diesel generators and should represent a long-term investment rather than a short-term solution. However, connecting cities to create large control zones, using hydropower plants to balance PV variability during the rainy season, should be planned and properly financed to drive the electricity grid towards maturity, once electrification has been improved.

The economic and social cost of diesel dependency

The reliance on diesel generators has far-reaching consequences that partially led to the 2025 uprising. In that respect, Madagascar could be considered as one of the first country to experience political unrest due to restrictions in electricity provision.

High diesel prices, especially in the countryside have plagued the local utility Jirama and increased its losses: with retail electricity prices capped for obvious economic and social reasons, the high dependency to oil prices is increasing the losses of the utility for almost each kWh sold. This has created a vicious circle, Jirama can barely invest in upgrades, leading to further deterioration of the grid, not only for electricity but also for its other missions, such as water provision.

Needless to mention the environmental impact: Diesel generators are highly polluting, contributing to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, but also tremendous noise when installed close to cities.

Social Inequality is a real issue without reliable electricity and improving living conditions of the population requires access to electricity, students struggle to study after dark, businesses face reduced productivity, and healthcare facilities cannot operate life-saving equipment consistently with a back-up diesel generator. It is also estimated that only 2% of the population has access to clean cooking.

The political dimensions of this crisis cannot be ignored as explained before.

Solar hybridization projects: A technical overview

The so-called Finexpo project was aiming at hybridizing diesel generators with solar PV, in order to reduce oil consumption and electricity prices. The project has been financed by the Export authority of the Belgian government, Finexpo, through a long-term loan to the authorities of Madagascar.

The project has been led by a consortium of Belgian and Malagasy companies, from engineering to control and installation, and can be considered as a perfect successful example of multi-cultural work and understanding.

The first takeover of the project is the considerable lead-time due to the need to align positions at government level between the two countries. While the financial scheme can be considered fair, the time from inception to realization was considerably high for a solar project. With 10 years elapsed, solar technology evolved significantly and the project would have been done differently in 2026. International financing needs to be fast-tracked.

Due to financial constraints, the project focused on five remote sites, in mid-size cities (Ambilobe, Mananara, Marovoay) and two touristic islands (Sainte-Marie and Nosy Bé).

Image: Sainte-Marie site / Becquerel Institute

Each of these locations shared a common profile: powered initially by diesel generators at high cost and limited reliability, due to difficulties in transporting oil mostly. A total of 5 MW of PV was added, with the largest plant amounting to 1.5 MW. The systems are configured in islanding mode, managing grid stability with demands often in the range of 300 kW to over 1 MW.

The overarching goal was to reduce diesel consumption by integrating solar PV systems and, in one case, battery storage, into the existing infrastructure. Battery storage could have been used widely and reduced further diesel consumption, would the project have been started later, with declining solar PV and battery costs. One of the plants was equipped with a BESS system, but with reduced capacity compared to an optimal design.

Hybridization involves combining diesel generators with solar PV (and/or batteries) in a way that optimizes efficiency and cost. There are two primary configurations:

• Diesel as Master, PV as Slave: The diesel generator runs continuously at a minimum load, typically never below 25-30% of capacity, but in the reality 40% is not uncommon. Solar PV injects electricity when available, reducing the diesel generator’s output. The limitation is clear: If PV plus minimal diesel production exceeds demand, the excess energy is curtailed and wasted, as diesel generators cannot run below their minimum idle threshold. This is the solution that was implemented in these projects.
• PV as Master, Diesel as Slave: in this configuration, Solar PV takes priority, with diesel generators kicking in only when PV production is insufficient. To run smoothly, this solution requires battery storage to smooth out fluctuations in PV output and avoid as much as possible to have to restart diesel generators. This solution would be now more acceptable, with battery storage allowing to maintain the solar+BESS system operational at almost all times and maintaining the diesel generators in reserve for specific period of the year when solar+BESS combined would require too much capex to be dimensioned at the right size.

The projects yielded encouraging results: the reduction in diesel consumption was significant and the decline of the cost of end consumers followed. Solar PV displaced a significant portion of diesel-generated electricity, particularly during daylight hours, but also, thanks to storage during the evening consumption peak. Average electricity price declined by half in average, depending on the configuration and most could be achievable with additional investments, especially in battery storage.

Image: Mananara Central / Becquerel Institute

Broader implications: Why this matters for Madagascar and Africa

The project highlights a critical truth: energy access is not just an economic issue—it is a social and political one. The 2025 political upheaval in Madagascar was, in a large part, a rejection of energy poverty. The new temporary government has signaled a commitment to accelerating electrification, particularly through solar and storage, with considerable investments and pressure put on existing players.

The plummeting cost of solar PV and batteries has made hybrid systems increasingly viable and represent today the fastest path to electrification. Easier to deploy than large-scale hydropower or wind projects, solar and batteries offer the possibility to be temporarily added to diesel generators, reducing significantly their use of fossil fuels.

Hybridization will allow for downsizing diesel capacity, but economic consequences must be managed properly by local governments, since the economy of oil is central in many African countries and requires to be addressed carefully and smartly. Diesel will remain necessary for electricity production in remote places, allowing temporarily to stabilize mini grids with high solar and battery storage without significant additional investments. Priority should be given to electrification through solar PV, optimizing existing resources to maximize solar deployment, rather than looking for the optimum 24/7 zero-carbon solution. This will come in a second phase, but electrification is a moral challenge in most sub-Saharan African countries.

A key challenge to scaling up solar PV in African countries remains administrative and regulatory hurdles. Slow approval of new projects could be fast tracked, and while respecting the rights of everyone, be given priorities in courts and administration. Financing also requires accelerated procedures. 

Political will is critical—energy access is not just about technology, but equity and development are now a cornerstone of policies in many African countries. This has been made obvious also for the International Solar Alliance during its last African Regional Committee Meeting in Zimbabwe last august: the political commitment is there, money is available, skills remain to be built.

The question now is not whether Africa and Madagascar can transition to renewable energy, but how quickly it can do so. With the right policies, investments, and PV-based technical solutions, the entire continent could leapfrog the diesel era and embrace a cleaner, more affordable solar-driven energy future.

Author: Gaëtan Masson, CEO and Founder, Becquerel Institute.

Becquerel Institute is a strategic consulting and applied research company specialising in solar photovoltaics and energy transition. Founded in Brussels in 2014, with regional offices in France, Italy and Spain, it provides strategic advice across all segments of the PV value chain including market trends, analysis of development conditions and political and regulatory frameworks, assessment of production costs, etc. Becquerel Institute applies this expertise to support companies in Europe, America, Asia and Africa, and is a recognised partner in European and international research projects. The company also actively supports international organisations and associations.

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