- Egyptian manufacturer El Sewedy Electric has secured a contract from the Sudanese government to build the $45 million solar/storage project in Nesitu county, near the national capital of Juba.
- The African Export-Import Bank is financing the project.
South Sudan’s Ministry of Energy and Dams has chosen Egyptian manufacturer El Sewedy Electric to build the country’s first large-scale PV power project.
The African Export-Import Bank is financing the $45 million project, which will include a 20 MW solar park coupled with a 35 MWh large-scale storage system. It will be located in Nesitu county, which is 20 km from the capital Juba, the national capital, El Sewedy Electric said, adding that the project will be finalized within 12 months after the start of construction, without providing additional technical or financial details.
Upon completion, the facility will be the country’s first MW-scale solar power plant. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, the country had only installed 18 MW of solar by the end of 2018, with most of that consisting of off-grid capacity.
The country, which still depends heavily on imported fossil fuels to generate power, currently has an electricity access rate of around 59%. According to the US Energy Information Administration, 56% of the country’s power demand was covered by hydropower projects in 2016.
South Sudan’s Ministry of Water Resources and Electricity recently launched a program to use grid-connected solar pumps to replace diesel. The project, which is supported by the United Nations Development Programme, aims to accelerate the deployment of off-grid solar pumping systems for irrigation by providing demonstration units of 450 solar powered irrigation pumps.
Author: Emiliano Bellini
This article was originally published in pv magazine and is republished with permission.
