The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector financing arm of the World Bank Group, and Globeleq, an independent power producer (IPP) owned by UK investor CDC Group have recently joined a team of investors including Norfund of Norway to develop Kolwezi Solar Power Station in the city of Kolwezi, the provincial headquarters of Lualaba Province, in the southeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Kolwezi Solar Power Station Project was originally led by Greenshare Energy, Greenshare Congo, Volt Renewables, and Nzuri Energy.
The role of the new players in the Project
To support the Kolwezi Solar Power Station Project’s development costs, IFC is providing up to US$ 900,000 through its Collaborations and Co-development Financing Program, and up to a further US$ 900,000 from the Finland-IFC Blended Finance for Climate Program.
Speaking on the development, Jonathan Hoffman, Globeleq’s Chief Development Officer said, “We are excited to partner with IFC on this project and build upon the solid work of the original developers. Applying Globeleq’s experience in delivering renewable energy projects, we look forward to contributing to this Central African country’s economic development and supporting its clean energy transition.”
Also Read: IFC to Invest US$ 400M in Scaling Mini-Grid Project in the DRC
Expectations for the Kolwezi Solar Power Station
The construction of the solar plant with a planned capacity of 100 MW (130,000 hp) is expected to begin in 2023, and be completed within 12 months upon which it will be among the largest solar PV projects in the DRC.
The energy from this solar farm will be sold to the Société Nationale d’Électricité (SNEL), the national electricity utility company which will in turn supply it to about 1.25 million Congolese people and copper, cobalt, gold, uranium and radium mines in the Lualaba Provenance.
