Kanzimbe Solar Power Station, is a solar power plant, in Malawi, in Southern Africa. The power station was constructed between December 2018 and November 2021.

Location

The power station is located in the neighborhood known as Kanzimbe, in Khombeza Traditional Area, in Salima District, on the south-western banks of Lake Malawi, approximately , by road, north-east of

Lilongwe Lilongwe (, , ) is the capital and most populated city of the African country of Malawi. It has a population of 989,318 as of the 2018 Census, up from a population of 674,448 in 2008. In 2020 that figure was 1,122,000. The city is located in th ...

, Malawi's capital city. Salima is located about by road, south of the town of Nkhotakota, on the western coast of Lake Malawi. The power station is located here.

Overview

As of 2018, Malawi was reported to have the lowest electrification rate in the World, with a per capital consumption estimated at 93 kWh per year compared with an average of 432 kWh for Sub-Saharan Africa and 2,167 kWh per year for the World average. There is urgency for Malawi to reach the critical threshold of 500 kWh per year. As part of efforts to increase electricity output and to diversify Malawi's sources of energy, the country developed this solar power station (60 megawatts),

Kammwamba Thermal Power Station The Khammwamba Thermal Power Station, also Khammwamba Power Station, is a proposed coal-fired power plant in Malawi, with planned installed capacity of . Location The power station would be located in the Kammwamba area in the town of Zalew ...

(300 megawatts) and Mpatamanga Hydroelectric Power Station (350 megawatts), in the medium term. The energy generated by this power station is sold to the Electricity Supply Commission of Malawi (Escom), under a 20-year power purchase agreement. In addition to the solar farm, a new 132kV electricity switchyard and a new 132kV high voltage transmission line were built to evacuate the generated energy to the Escom 132kV substation at ''Nanjoka'', where it enters the national grid.

Developers

The power station was developed 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 ...

comprising three companies as illustrated in the table below: ''JCM Power'' is a Canadian renewable energy, independent power producer, active in South Asia, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Construction timeline, costs and funding

Construction was flagged off in December 2018. The development costs of the power station and related infrastructure is quoted as high as US$80 million. In July 2021, the ''Africa Trade Insurance Agency (ATI)'' insured ''JCM Matswani Solar Corporation Limited'', the special purpose vehicle company (SPVC) that owns, built, operates and maintains the power station against late payments by the power plant off-taker,

Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi Limited (ESCOM) is the state-owned power transmission and distribution company in Malawi. It is entirely in control of transmission and distribution of electric power in the country. ESCOM represents Mala ...

(Escom). The ten-year policy cost US$4.4 million. Completion and commercial commissioning are expected in August 2021. This renewable energy power project benefitted from partial funding from the Netherlands Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO Netherlands), totaling US$12.51 million.

Commercial commissioning

The completed solar farm was commissioned by Lazarus Chakwera, the President of Malawi, on 19 November 2021.

References

External links

Malawi's Government Has Launched The Construction Of 60 Megawatts Solar Plant As It Seeks Solutions To Its Power Problems
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanzimbe Solar Power Station Solar power stations in Malawi 2021 establishments in Malawi Energy infrastructure completed in 2021 Renewable energy power stations in Malawi