- The 19 MW Cuamba solar project, which features a 2 MW/7 MWh battery system, is Mozambique’s first grid scale solar-plus-storage project.
The US$36 million project, located in the Cuamba district, Niassa province (about 550 km west of the coastal town of Nacala), will supply electricity through a 25-year power purchase agreement with EDM, the country’s state owned energy utiltiy. The project is the first IPP in Mozambique to integrate a utility scale energy storage system and includes an upgrade to the existing Cuamba substation.
The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (“EAIF”), a member of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (“PIDG”) provided US$19 million in debt funding, with PIDG’s Viability Gap Funding (VGF) grant facility providing US$7million to enable an affordable tariff, fund essential grid upgrades and an energy storage system for EDM. CDC Plus, the technical assistance facility of CDC Group, has contributed a US$1million grant towards the battery energy storage system.
The Spanish company Grupo TSK was project EPC contractor. E22, part of the Spanish Gransolar Group, suppled the complete battery energy storage system.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
