Alten reaches financial close for 37-MW solar project in Namibia

Alten Africa, a wholly-owned affiliate of Alten Energias Renovables, announced on Wednesday that it has achieved financial closure for a 45.5-MWp/37-MWac solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Namibia.

A financing deal for over USD 50 million (EUR 40.5m) was signed with the South African Standard Bank and Proparco, the private sector financing arm of Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD), Alten Africa said.

The project was secured in a tender held by state-owned electricity company NamPower, which also holds a 19% stake.

Overall, the PV scheme will require USD 70 million in investments. The plant will be comprised of 140,000 crystalline silicon panels mounted on solar trackers located on a 100-hectares (247.1acres) site in the municipality of Mariental.

Scheduled to commence operations this September, the solar park is expected to generate around 112 GWh per year, enough to meet the annual demand of over 70,000 Namibians. It will also help reduce the country's energy dependency on its neighbours by nearly 5%, Alten noted.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.81)

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