The government’s development arm, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of Zambia, is planning to develop about 600MW of solar power projects as soon as possible to address the power crisis in the country.
The proposed projects, which are the country’s first utility scale PV developments, will address power generation deficit of about 560MW in the country due to poor rainfall.
Planned to be built on separate sites and developed by different private sector sponsors, the projects will enable Zambia to reduce its reliance on hydro resources and diversify its energy supply mix.
Zambian partners are expected to be engaged in the ownership structure of both projects.
The commercial structure for the projects is anticipated to follow IFC’s Scaling Solar initiative, which was launched earlier this year to expand private investment in utility-scale PV power in Sub-Saharan Africa.
IFC Eastern and Southern Africa director Oumar Seydi said: "IFC is developing this partnership with IDC Zambia to deliver affordable renewable energy that can mitigate the country’s ongoing energy crisis.
"The Scaling Solar program enables us to apply the full range of World Bank Group services to address Zambia’s challenges quickly and sustainably."
