Bangweulu Solar Power Station (BSPS), is a solar power plant in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

. The solar farm that was commercially commissioned in March 2019, was developed and is owned by a consortium comprising

Neoen Neoen is a French producer of exclusively renewable energy headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 2008, it develops, finances, builds and operates solar power plants, wind farms and energy storage solutions. As at 31 December 2021, the comp ...

, a French IPP, ''Industrial Development Corporation of Zambia'' (IDC Zambia), a government

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

company and

First Solar First Solar, Inc. is an American manufacturer of solar panels, and a provider of utility-scale PV power plants and supporting services that include finance, construction, maintenance and end-of-life panel recycling. First Solar uses rigid thi ...

, a US-based solar panel manufacturer. The power station cost US$60 million to develop.

Location

The power plant is located in the ''Lusaka South Multi-Facility Economic Zone'', in

Kafue District Kafue District is a district of Zambia, located in Lusaka Province. The capital lies at Kafue. As of the 2000 Zambian Census, the district had a population of 150,217 people. Kafue has many business areas to invest in. There are more services one c ...

, in

Lusaka Province Lusaka Province is one of the ten provinces of Zambia. Its capital is Lusaka, which is also the national capital. It is the smallest province in Zambia, with an area of 21,896 km2. Lusaka is also Zambia's most populated and most densely po ...

, approximately , by road, southeast of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...

, the capital of Zambia and the largest city in that country. BSPS its on of real estate. The geographical coordinates of Bangweulu Solar Power Station are 15°30'42.0"S, 28°25'54.0"E (Latitude:-15.511667; Longitude:28.431667), just north of the

Ngonye Solar Power Station Ngonye Solar Power Station (NSPS), is a solar power plant in Zambia. The solar farm that was commercially commissioned in April 2019, was developed and is owned by a consortium comprising Enel Green Power of Italy, a multinational renewable ...

Overview

The

Government of Zambia The politics of Zambia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president of Zambia is head of state, head of government and leader of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by th ...

, through IDC Zambia, working with the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Grou ...

, as part of the bank's program "Scaling Solar", awarded the tender to develop this power station to

, a French independent power producer. The

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

solar panel manufacturer First Solar Inc. was selected to manufacture and supply the solar panels for the power station. The power generated here is purchased by Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (ZESCO) under a 25-year

power purchase agreement A power purchase agreement (PPA), or electricity power agreement, is a contract between two parties, one which generates electricity (the seller) and one which is looking to purchase electricity (the buyer). The PPA defines all of the commercial te ...

executed between ZESCO and Neoen at US$0.0602 per kWh.

Ownership

This power station is owned by a

consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...

whose members are illustrated in the table below. The members of the consortium formed a special purpose vehicle company ''Bangweulu Power Company Limited'', which operates and maintains the power station.

Funding, construction and timeline

This renewable energy infrastructure development project received a grant of US$2 million, from the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

(USAID). The

International Finance Corporation The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in less developed countries. The IFC is a member of t ...

(IFC), and the

Overseas Private Investment Corporation The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was the United States Government's Development finance institution until it merged with the Development Credit Authority (DCA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID ...

(formerly OPIC, now DFC), jointly lent US$39 million to the consortium of owner/developers of BSPS. The EPC contract was awarded to ''Sterling & Wilson'', an engineering and Construction company, based in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Construction started in December 2017, with commercial commissioning taking place in March 2019.

References

External links