Madagascar's state-owned electric utility and water company Jirama and the country's rural electrification development agency have signed 46 memoranda of understanding for new solar projects, bringing a combined planned capacity of 932 MW to the island nation as it works to dramatically expand electricity access and reduce reliance on imported fuels.

Details of the Agreements

The 46 memoranda of understanding were signed between the two government bodies and a combined total of 46 public and private partners. Jirama, the state-owned utility, signed 39 of the deals, while ADER, the country's rural electrification development agency, signed the remaining seven.

According to Madagascar's Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbons, Jirama's portion of the agreements spans 55 prospective solar power plants with a planned combined capacity of 526 MW. ADER's seven agreements account for a further 406.72 MW, bringing the overall total to 932 MW across both agencies.

The ministry has outlined that the immediate next steps for these projects involve converting the memoranda of understanding into firm contracts, which would then allow construction work to begin across several regions of the island.

A Country With Limited But Growing Solar Capacity

The scale of the planned additions stands in stark contrast to Madagascar's current solar footprint. The Africa Solar Industry Association's project database has identified 592.4 MW of operational solar capacity in Madagascar to date. Of that figure, 126.5 MW was added in 2025 alone, suggesting an accelerating pace of deployment even before these new agreements were concluded.

Madagascar's renewable energy mix has historically been dominated by hydropower, and the country's overall electricity generation profile reflects a heavy dependence on that resource.

The new solar agreements represent a significant shift in the composition of future planned capacity and align with the government's stated ambition to increase the share of renewables in its electricity mix to between 80% and 85% by 2030, up from an estimated 45% today.

Energy Independence and the Drive to Reduce Fuel Imports

The Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbons framed the solar projects as a step toward energy independence for Madagascar. The country currently depends significantly on imported fuels for portions of its electricity generation, and the ministry stated that expanding solar power is part of a broader strategy to reduce that dependency.

The government's energy policy objectives connect the expansion of solar generation directly to economic resilience, as imported fuel costs represent a substantial burden on both the national budget and on consumers.

By generating more electricity domestically through solar installations spread across multiple regions, Madagascar aims to insulate its power supply from the price volatility and supply chain risks associated with fuel imports.

Electrification Rates Remain a Major Challenge

The urgency behind Madagascar's push for new generation capacity becomes clear when viewed against the country's current electrification figures. According to data from the African Development Bank Group, only around 36% of Madagascar's population currently has access to electricity. In rural areas, that figure drops sharply to as low as 7%, highlighting the profound disparity between urban and rural access to power.

Madagascar has set a target of increasing its national electrification rate to 80% by the end of the decade. Reaching that goal within four years from the current baseline of 36% would require a substantial and sustained expansion of both generation capacity and distribution infrastructure.

ADER's involvement in seven of the 46 agreements reflects the agency's specific mandate to address rural electrification, and the 406.72 MW attributable to its deals may be targeted in part toward communities that are currently without any grid connection.

Converting Agreements Into Action

While the signing of the 46 memoranda of understanding marks a significant milestone in Madagascar's solar ambitions, the agreements remain preliminary in nature.

The Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbons has been clear that the deals must be converted into firm contracts before construction can begin. The timeline for that conversion process has not been specified in the ministry's statements.

The involvement of both public and private partners across the 46 agreements suggests that Madagascar is pursuing a mixed financing and development model for the expansion of its solar sector.

Whether all 46 projects ultimately proceed to construction will depend on the successful negotiation of those binding contracts and the securing of the necessary financing and approvals for projects that will be distributed across multiple regions of a large and geographically diverse island.

The combined 932 MW, if fully realized, would represent a transformative addition to Madagascar's power system and would significantly alter the country's energy mix as it works toward its 2030 renewable energy targets.

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