Selecting a site that meets the technical requirements for a concentrating solar power plant (CSP) is a very critical exercise. This paper points out crucial factors and provides guidelines regarding the selection of suitable sites. It especially focuses on Sahelian countries which have their own climatic peculiarities. These countries, characterized by low access to electricity, are well endowed in solar resources. They are potentially good locations for concentrating solar power plants since their mean daily solar radiation exceeds 5.5 kWh/m(2). CSP presents therefore, a good opportunity for them to increase in a sustainable manner, their energy supply. The guidelines developed in this paper are applied to Burkina Faso as a case study. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.