Enel Brings Online its First Solar Facility in Zambia

Upon completion, the facility is expected to produce around 70 GWh of electricity every year, while avoiding the annual emission of over 25,600 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Enel Green Power, the Enel Group’s global business line dedicated to renewable energy, has started operations of the 34 MW Ngonye solar PV plant, which is the Group’s first power plant in Zambia.

The PV facility, which is located in Lusaka South Multi-Facility Economic Zone in the country’s south, is part of the World Bank Group’s Scaling Solar programme carried out by Zambia’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which awarded EGP in June 2016 the right to develop, finance, construct, own and operate the plant.

“With the connection to the grid of Ngonye in Zambia, we are reconfirming our commitment to helping the country leverage on its vast wealth of renewable resources, which poses a great opportunity for growth,” said Antonio Cammisecra, Head of Enel Green Power. “Through this project, we are boosting the government’s ambitious push to improve access to electricity throughout the country, while diversifying its generation mix to hedge against severe drought and climate change effects. This successful project also confirms that effectively-designed development programmes, like Scaling Solar, are key to attracting private renewable investments in Africa.”

The Ngonye solar plant, which is owned by a special purpose vehicle 80% held by EGP and 20% by IDC, is supported by a 25-year power purchase agreement signed with Zambia’s state-owned utility ZESCO. Once fully up and running, the facility is expected to produce around 70 GWh per year, while avoiding the annual emission of over 25,600 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

The Enel Group invested approximately 40 million US dollars in the construction of Ngonye. In June 2018, Enel signed a financing agreement with IDC of around 34 million US dollars for the construction of the PV plant, involving senior loans of up to 10 million US dollars from the International Financing Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, up to 12 million US dollars from the IFC-Canada Climate Change Program and up to 11.75 million US dollars from the European Investment Bank (EIB).