Africa

Under development since 2015, the 7.5 MW solar plant was built thanks to the efforts of multiple international entities including the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the U.K. government-funded Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP).

Sun Exchange is seeking to deploy 1 GW of solar power projects in Africa the next five years as it further expands its user base. Sun Exchange CEO Abraham Cambridge spoke to pv magazine about how the company will use its newly acquired funds.

The Algerian authorities aim to launch a new solar tender by the end of October. The procurement exercise will be divided into 10 lots, ranging from 80 MW to 180 MW each. One Algerian think tank has said that it expects prices ranging from DZD 5/kWh ($0.036) to DZD 7/kWh.

The solar plant is expected to have a capacity of up to 50 MW and to be located at the 100 MW Gorou Banda thermal power station commissioned in 2017.

The self-consumption project has an estimated cost of around $2.4 million.

The €50 million project is planned to begin commercial operations in 2023.

Solar is the main energy source among all independent power producer projects licensed by the authorities in Zimbabwe. The largest solar plant under construction in the country is a 25 MW facility in Matabeleland North province.

The funds will be used to implement the country’s Large Scale Solar and Rural Electrification Project. They will also support the government in outlining an upcoming tender for 325 MW of solar coupled with 335 MWh of storage capacity.

The solar facility is intended at reducing the country’s dependency on hydropower, especially during drought periods.

The government wants 30% of its power from clean energy sources by 2035 and the 50 MW of solar targeted by the World Bank would make up two-thirds of that ambition.