- Africa GreenCo Group is thrilled to announce the successful execution of a System Operations Agreement (SOA) with the Zambian National Power Utility, ZESCO Limited.
- The agreement involves the construction of the 25MW Ilute Solar PV plant in Western Province of Zambia with the power produced sold into the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP).
Situated in Sesheke District of Western Province, the 25MW Ilute Solar Power Project shall be the first of its kind in Africa, using the competitive markets of the SAPP to mitigate customer default risk by leveraging the diversified customer base in contrast with the traditional practice of transferring project risk to the national treasury. ZESCO will be compensated by GreenCo for providing system operations services. The Ilute Solar project is being developed by a consortium comprising Western Solar Power, a Zambian developer and Serengeti Energy.
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This significant achievement harmoniously aligns with the objective articulated by His Excellency, President Hakainde Hichilema, during his inaugural speech at the opening of the National Assembly, where he emphasized the government’s dedication to promoting competition and non-discriminatory access to electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure. President Hichilema reiterated, “To promote competition and allow for non-discriminatory access to electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure by the private sector, the government is in the process of implementing an open access regime. Private sector players will be able to wheel power to their customers and will also help remove ZESCO from entering into unsustainable power purchase agreements.”
During his speech, President Hichilema also commended ZESCO for hastening the execution process of power purchase agreements with independent power producers since 2021, a catalytic enabler to attracting private and public investment in the Zambian electricity supply industry.
ZESCO’s Managing Director, Engineer Victor Benjamin Mapani welcomed the execution of the SOA and stated that: “ZESCO is determined to allow for more private participants onto the Electricity Supply Industry in an amenable manner because Zambia is open for business.”
The execution of the SOA signifies a ground-breaking development for the nation’s energy landscape and highlights Zambia’s commitment to fostering a competitive, equitable and sustainable power sector.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
