The $34 million financing agreement signed between Enel Group and Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) paves the way for the construction of the 34 MW Ngonye solar power plant in Zambia.
“The signing of this funding agreement marks an important step towards the beginning of Enel’s operational presence in Zambia, which helps us to establish a stronger presence in the country”. Antonio Cammisecra, the director of Enel Green Power (the renewable energy branch of the Enel group), was pleased with the $34 million financing agreement that his company has just signed with Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) in Zambia.
The financing includes senior loans of up to $10 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), up to $12 million from the SFI-Canada Climate Change Program and $11.75 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB). To this sum mobilised, Enel should add 6 million dollars to reach the amount necessary (40 million dollars) for the implementation of the construction project of the solar power plant of Ngonye.
Ngonye Solar Power Plant
The agreement signed between the two companies stipulates that the future plant will be 80% owned by Enel Green Power and 20% by IDC (a Zambian government-owned investment company whose purpose is to facilitate the provision and sourcing of long-term project finance, editor’s note). It also stipulates that after construction, the electricity produced will be sold directly to Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (Zesco), the company that distributes energy in Zambia, for a period of 25 years.
The solar power plant to be built by the Italian company Enel will be located in Ngonye, a dynamic economic area south of Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. It should have an installed generating capacity of 34 MW, or 70 GWh per year. Enel, which employs 63,000 people worldwide, is based in Africa via its renewable energy subsidiary Enel Green Power. It is present in Senegal, Kenya, South Africa and Ethiopia, where it is building with Ethiopian Orchid Business Group a 100 MW solar power plant in Metahara (a town located in the Misraq Shewa area of the Oromia region, near Lake Beseka in central Ethiopia). As far as the future Ngonye solar power plant is concerned, its installation will start in July 2018.
Jean Marie Takouleu
