ADB approves loan for Eritrean solar-storage project

• $ 50m finance package will certainly enable construction of clean power facility 40km eastern of the capital Asmara

African Development Bank (ADB) has accepted a $50m loan for the construction of a 30MW solar project, plus battery, in Dekemhare, in Eritrea.

The project requires the construction of a grid-connected solar photovoltaic power plant as well as battery storage space system near the town of Dekemhare 40km south-east of the capital Asmara.

The loan makes up $19.5 m from the African Development Fund (ADF-15) and $30.42 m from the Transition Support Facility.

The ADF-15 grant will certainly fund the construction of the solar plant and a 15MW battery back-up system.

Part of the cash will certainly likewise be allocated to technical assistance and also capacity building to boost the functional efficiency of the grid and also guarantee the sustainability of the results attained and also the general development of the Eritrean power field.

The project consists of the power generation stage, that includes the layout, construction, supply and also installation of the solar plant, the battery, a 33/66kV substation as well as a 66kV transmission line attached to the existing transmission line in between East Asmara as well as Dekemhare, located around 1km from the project website.

The second component of the development is technical assistance as well as capacity structure.

This aims to support technological studies for large-scale renewable resource projects to reply to electricity demand within Eritrea Electricity Corporation (EEC) network's interconnected system, minimise the electricity generation from thermal plants and also perform vital researches of the energy market, including emission decrease potential of the determined renewable resource projects as well as their qualification for co-financing by global environment funds.

The technical assistance consists of capacity building for the electricity firm and the Ministry of Environment, particularly in photovoltaic innovations and battery energy storage space systems, send off monitoring and also appointing of electrical tools.