French Development Agency helps Mozambique build 80 MW of solar capacity

The French Development Agency (AFD) is seeking consultants to conduct feasibility studies into the construction of two solar power plants with a combined generation capacity of 80 MW in Mozambique.

 

The AFD said the two 40 MW capacity projects will be developed under the Projeto de Promoção de Leilões para Energias Renováveis (PROLER) initiative, which is aimed at creating a regulatory framework and auction mechanism for the development of large scale renewable energy projects.

 

The program is being implemented with the help of Mozambican utility Electricidade de Mocambique (EDM), which is likely to be the future buyer of the renewable energy generated.

 

The AFD said solar project sites had been identified in Nampula and Niassa provinces, each less than 6km from the nearest grid substations.

 

 

Consultants have until November 11 to submit expressions of interest.

 

The European Union gave the government of Mozambique €4 million ($4.46 million) for its PROLER program in October 2017.

 

The two solar projects will augment those being developed by utility EDM with the support of the International Finance Corporation, the private finance arm of the World Bank. A tender was launched for those facilities in mid-July and aims to procure 60 MW of new capacity from projects ranging in size from 10-15 MW.

 

The 40 MW Mocuba Solar IPP project developed by Norwegian company Scatec Solar is the only large scale solar facility in Mozambique at present. The $76 million project, commissioned in August, has a 25-year power purchase agreement with EDM. That plant increased the country’s PV capacity from only 17 MW at the end of 2018 to around 60 MW today.