Enel breaks ground on 34-MW PV plant in Zambia

Italian utility Enel SpA (BIT:ENEL) announced today that its green arm, Enel Green Power (EGP), has broken ground on a 34-MW photovoltaic (PV) project in Zambia.

The Ngonye project, whose capacity is given in direct current (DC), is the company's first power plant in the African country. The facility is being built under the World Bank Group’s Scaling Solar programme. Enel in June 2016 won the right to develop, finance, construct, own and operate the plant. The construction works are scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2019.

Enel said it will invest roughly USD 40 million (EUR 34.4m) in the project. Financing has been secured from the International Financing Corporation (IFC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). Zambia’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) will have a 20% stake in the special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the project.

Located in the Lusaka South Multi-Facility Economic Zone, Ngonye has a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Zambia’s state owned utility ZESCO. Once fully operational, the solar power plant will be able to generate around 70 GWh annually, enough to offset around 45,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.86)

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