Burundi eyes doubling of large-scale solar capacity

The President of Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye, has approved a planned doubling of the capacity of the country’s first large-scale solar farm, a ribbon-cutting ceremony for which was held this week.

Africa-focused Gigawatt Global developed the 7.5-MW project in Mubuga, near the capital Gitega, over a period of six years. French firm Voltalia SA handled the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work.

At the ceremony, President Ndayishimiye stated that the country is open to direct foreign investment to catalyse economic growth for its people. “We have excellent soil for tea and coffee and an industrious population. And thanks to this solar field, and my agreement to double the size of it, we have increased energy security that can reliably run agro-businesses," he said.

The original project was financed by a consortium including pan-African private equity investor Inspired Evolution via its Evolution II Fund, and the UK government-funded Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP), in addition to Gigawatt Global.

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