- A record lowest successful bid came in at 3.999 USc/kWh with the weighted average of all six successful projects at 4.41 USc/kWh.
- The three IPP’s awarded projects are moving into the finalizing of required preparations for their projects.
- Preparations include commencing of commercial arrangements where the consortia have to be able to deliver the commissioned plants within established programme deadlines.
- This is the first time a tariff below 4 USc/kWh is achieved through a public tender in Sub Saharan Africa.
On 5th April 2019, the Ministry of Energy’s Permanent Secretary Brigadier General Emeldah Chola (Rtd) announced the award of six Solar PV Independent Power Producer (IPP) projects, totalling 120MW under the GET FiT Zambia Solar PV tender in Lusaka.
The lowest successful bid came in at 3.999 USc/kWh with the weighted average of all six successful projects at 4.41 USc/kWh. This is the first time a tariff below 4 USc/kWh is achieved through a public tender in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), thus setting a record for the GET FiT Zambia Solar PV tender.
The GET FiT tender had a target outcome of 100MW but based on the approval granted by the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) due to the favourable results achieved, the GET FiT Investment Committee awarded an additional 20MW.
The consortiums that have proven successful in the tender are summarized below.
- 1st Award – Two Proposals of Joint Venture Building Energy & Pele Energy – Bulemu East & West– 20MW each at US 3.999/kWh.
- 2nd Award- Two Proposals of Joint Venture Globeleq & Aurora Power Solutions – Aurora Sola One & Two – 20MW each at US 4.52/kWh.
- 3rd Award – Two Proposals of Joint Venture of InnoVent & CEC – Garneton North & South Solar 20MW each at US 4.80/kWh.
In addition to the successful bidders, two consortiums which also submitted bids for two projects with a total of 40MWac each were awarded “Reserve” status.
The awarded consortia are moving into the finalizing of required preparations for their projects. Preparations include commencing of commercial arrangements where the consortia have to be able to deliver the commissioned plants within established programme deadlines. The GET FiT Secretariat will continue to provide assistance while maintaining interaction with the developers and all stakeholders with the aim of ensuring timely project completions.
As part of their technical proposals, all successful bidders have committed to local capacity building programs. They will be required to develop and implement a training program for local Zambian graduates, host a series of training workshops at the University of Zambia (UNZA) in partnership with the Solar Energy Centre (SEC) and develop a training programme for unskilled local work force, which will train workers in the field of solar PV plant O&M services.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
