Economy in Lot-et-Garonne. "We finished the project in a dugout," says the boss of Fonroche about the giant contract in Senegal.

The Agen-based company, which has signed the world's largest solar public lighting contracts in Senegal, now lights up hundreds of communities, including some of the most isolated.

On Monday, September ^1st , the first day back at school, Laurent Lubrano, CEO of Fonroche Lighting, was informed of the completion of a historic project for the TAG company in Sainte-Colombe-en-Bruilhois. The second phase of the project was in Senegal, a state with which Fonroche has concluded the largest contracts ever signed in the world. "We finished the project by canoe," said Laurent Lubrano. "The last streetlight was installed on one of the many islands that make up Sine Saloum."

A final symbolic installation that corresponds to one of the Gascon company's credo: bringing light to the most remote places, using reliable and robust technology that requires neither network nor trench, other than a few bolts, or almost. The simplicity and speed of the installation were also the driving forces behind the signing of the two contracts in a country whose population is tired of not seeing anything at night and where light is both a social and security improvement.

“A true global showcase of what solar street lighting can offer”

"On the evening of Monday, September ^1st , the last solar streetlight was installed in Senegal, marking the completion of the largest solar lighting project in the world," Fonroche said in a press release. "In just 30 months, Fonroche Lighting has deployed 67,000 latest-generation solar streetlights in 528 municipalities. With the previous installations, there are now nearly 120,000 autonomous solar streetlights illuminating Senegalese nights, making the country one of the best lit in West Africa thanks to solar energy."

Launched in 2022, the project, which followed the previous contract signed by the company chaired by Yann Maus in 2018 and involving the installation of 50,000 streetlights, was initiated by the National Agency for Renewable Energies (ANER), aimed at modernizing Senegal. It represents a total investment of €220 million, financed via a loan from the Senegalese government to Bpifrance, the French Treasury, and Société Générale.

"On average, each municipality was able to be fully equipped in just two weeks, a pace never before achieved for a project of this scale and made possible by the adaptability of Fonroche streetlights," explains the lighting designer. Laurent Lubrano ultimately sees this achievement as "a true global showcase of what solar public lighting can offer: rapid deployment, technological modernity, and economic and environmental benefits. With Senegal, we are demonstrating that it is possible to equip an entire country in a few months, while giving it the means to manage its lighting system with a high level of performance and connectivity optimized by our cutting-edge technologies."