Monday 25 June 2018

EU bank to invest $11.75m in solar energy project in Zambia

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed an $11.75 million (£9m) loan to build a solar power plant in Zambia, Africa.

The 34MW Ngonye solar power plant, aimed to generate around 70GWh of power each year, will help Zambia tackle energy shortage and diversify its electricity generation.

It will be built by Enel Group and Zambia’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and will be located in the Lusaka South Multi-Facility Economic Zone (MFEZs).

It will also be supported with two loans of $10 million (£7m) and $12 million (£9m) from the World Bank and the International Financing Corporation (IFC)-Canada Climate Change Programme respectively.

EIB Vice-President Andrew McDowell said: “The ongoing initiative to standardise both tendering and financing processes is creating economies of scale for solar projects across the African continent, improving economic viability and resulting in the development of solar power in smaller markets and developing countries.

"After recent support for solar projects in Morocco and Kenya, the EIB is very proud to support Zambia in exploiting this abundantly available resource for the benefit of its citizens.”