IFC signs funding mandate for Voltalia's solar-storage project in Malawi

• The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has actually signed a mandate to prepare funding for a 55-MW solar project with a battery storage component proposed by France's Voltalia SA (EPA: VLTSA) in Malawi.

The World Bank Group member will certainly perform due diligence and also explore the possibility of prolonging financing for the scheme, the French renewable power producer said on Tuesday.

The Dwangwa project envisages the installment of a photovoltaic (PV) park with a 10-MW battery storage system. When in operation, the complex will sell electricity under a 20-year sales agreement with the state-owned power transmission and also circulation company Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi Ltd

According to Voltalia, the Dwangwa project's capacity will certainly be equal to nearly 10% of Malawi's mounted power generation capacity. Currently, only 15% of the landlocked southeastern African country's population has a connection to the electricity grid.

" This project is tactical for Malawi and illustrative of the region where access to electricity is especially difficult," Sebastien Clerc, Chief Executive Officer of Voltalia.