Neoen hires Sterling and Wilson to build Zambia solar project

Indian solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor Sterling and Wilson said today it has been selected by French renewables developer Neoen to build a 54.3-MWp solar park in Zambia.

The project, which is being developed under the World Bank Group's Scaling Solar programme, will be Zambia's first utility-scale solar power plant. The site is located in Kafue district, 20 km (12.4 miles) southeast of Lusaka.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced in December that financing for the solar park had been completed, and that Neoen and its partner, First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR), have issued a "notice to proceed" on construction. Neoen and First Solar won the project in a tender in June 2016. The other winner in that tender was Enel Green Power with a 28.2-MW solar project.

Bikesh Ogra of Sterling and Wilson said that Zambia, which suffers from power outages, is a key market for the company "considering the booming renewable energy segment and the Zambian government’s support for the development of 500 MW of new Solar PV plant in next couple of years."

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