Enel Group and Zambia’s Industrial Development Corp have secured financing of $34m for the construction of the 34MW Ngonye solar plant in the African country.
The International Financing Corp (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, will provide $10m, a further $12m will come from the IFC-Canada Climate Change Program and $11.75m from the European Investment Bank.
Ngonye will be Enel’s first power plant in Zambia and is located in the Lusaka South Multi-Facility Economic Zone in the south of the country.
Enel will invest $40m in the project, which is expected to generate about 70 gigawatt-hours a year of electricity that will be sold to Zambia’s state-owned utility ZESCO under a 25-year power purchase agreement.
Enel Green Power will own 80% of Ngonye, with Industrial Development Corp owning the remaining 20%.
Enel Green Power head Antonio Cammisecra said: “The signing of this financing agreement marks an important step toward the start of an operational presence of Enel in Zambia, helping us establish a stronger foothold in the country.”
Image: Enel Green Power
Enel flush for Zambia solar
By EBS