SS Zambia 2

active

As part of the World Bank Group (WBG) Scaling Solar program, Neoen SAS in consortium with First Solar (“the Sponsors”) has been awarded the contract to finance, construct and operate a 55 MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant (“the project”) at the Lusaka South Multi-Facility Economic Zone (LS-MFEZ) in Zambia. The Sponsors incorporated together with IDC (the Industrial Development Corporation, an investment company owned by the Government of the Republic of Zambia) a special purpose vehicle dedicated to the project (“the Company”, or “Bangweulu Power Company Limited”). Neoen, the main sponsor of the project, is an independent power producer, generating electricity from renewable sources (solar, wind or biomass). Neoen develops, finances, builds and operates power plants and is active in France, Portugal, Australia, Mexico, Egypt, Mozambique, Jamaica, Zambia, Jordan and El Salvador. With a current operating base of 759 MW, Neoen seeks to achieve installed power of over 1,000MW by 2017. The Zambia PV power plant to be built under the WBG’s Scaling Solar program will operate on a 25 year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) signed with ZESCO, the integrated electricity utility company of Zambia. The total project cost is estimated at US$60 million. The World Bank (WB) is providing a payment guarantee and IFC’s proposed investment consists of an A loan of up to $15 million. The power plant covering a maximum footprint area of about 52 hectares will require about 460,000 thin film modules from First Solar and 12 transformers. The proposed PV system will be connected to the grid and the electrical energy will be evacuated through the Lusaka South MFEZ substation, via a 33kV underground cable. The substation and underground cable will be financed, implemented and commissioned by the company, and then handed over to ZESCO. The project site is situated within the LS MFEZ about 15 km to the South and East of the Lusaka Central Business District.  The site is bordered by the Lusaka National Park to the South and some agricultural holdings to the East.  The company has assigned Sterling & Wilson as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor as well as the operations and maintenance (O&M) contractor. The construction phase is expected to take eight months; commissioning is expected to be in November 2017 with plant take-over expected in December 2017. In order to be flexible on the planning and to accommodate changes in the project schedules, the notice to proceed with the works (NTP) date is used as a timing reference.