Zambia signs second Scaling Solar mandate to develop another 500 MW of renewable energy

 

The Government of Zambia signed agreements on February 21^st, 2017 for a second mandate with Scaling Solar, the World Bank Group program that is helping developing countries procure low cost, privately financed, solar power. 

This is Zambia’s second engagement with Scaling Solar and it follows successful auctions held in May 2016 for two solar photovoltaic (PV) plants of up to 50 MW each that attracted some of the world’s top renewable energy developers.

Tenders for up to four solar PV plant projects of 50 MW to 100 MW each

The new Scaling Solar mandate will begin with an initial procurement round of up to 200 megawatts (MW) of utility-scale clean energy, with subsequent rounds to follow with a goal of developing 500 MW of renewable power. The Request for Qualifications for the second round are expected to be released in late March 2017.

The Scaling Solar mandate will be led by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Zambia, in close coordination with the Ministry of Energy, and is expected to comprise the structuring and tendering of up to four solar PV plant projects of 50 MW to 100 MW each. Each plant will be developed by different private sector sponsors through an open and competitive bidding process.

The two rounds in Zambia, along with Scaling Solar projects currently in progress in Senegal, Madagascar, and Ethiopia, will combine to develop and tender over 1.2 gigawatts of solar power, bringing much needed generation capacity to countries struggling to meet their power needs. The program is also expanding to other regions, with countries in Asia and the Middle East in discussions to join Scaling Solar. 

source: http://www.solarserver.com