The GoParity Impact Investment Platform will co-finance the construction of a solar photovoltaic power plant at the Good Shepherd Mission Hospital in Siteki, Eswatini. The projected solar power plant will enable the health centre to become more independent from the national electricity grid.
SolarWood Hospital is the name of a solar energy project that will soon be built in Eswanti. The project, initiated by GoParity, a Portugal-based impact investment platform, will result in the construction of a solar photovoltaic power plant at the Good Shepherd Mission Hospital in Siteki, the capital of the Lubombo district.
The hospital is currently powered by the national electricity grid, which is mainly fuelled by coal-fired power plants (76%). The hospital also uses this fossil fuel source to heat water, which is essential for the delivery of some health care services. GoParity’s solution through its SolarWood Hospital project is to disconnect the Good Shepherd Mission Hospital from the national grid and power it with energy from a solar photovoltaic power plant.
Coal will be replaced by “certified biomass” for water heating. “The switch to solar power will reduce the hospital’s greenhouse gas emissions by 70%, avoiding the emission of 1,350.3 tons of CO2 per year, the equivalent of planting 61,377 trees,” GoParity says. According to the financing platform, which has more than 6,800 investors, the project will have a significant impact in the Lubombo district, one of Eswatini’s least developed districts.
Siteki Hospital offers a capacity of 225 beds, with an occupancy rate of 130%. This high occupancy rate is due to the fact that it is the only health centre in the Lubombo region, with a population of close to 212,000.
Jean Marie Takouleu
