SkyPower pens PPA for 1 GW of solar in Zambia

Canada-headquartered independent power producer SkyPower Global has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Zambia’s government-owned utility ZESCO Ltd to deliver 1,000 MW of solar energy to the Southern Africa country, the companies said in a joint press release on Thursday.

The PPA will support the Green Giant Zambia project, which is expected to supply electricity to around 4 million homes, spark job creation and add more renewable energy to Zambia’s copper mining-based economy.

"The Green Giant Zambia project is a crucial component of our Integrated Renewable Energy Plan, especially in the context of our current drought owing to climate change. This initiative aims to substantially increase our renewable capacity to address both current and future energy needs as Zambia aims to increase industrial productivity and fulfill our aspiration to attain over 3 million metric tonnes of annual copper production,” President Hakainde Hichilema said in the press release.

No details about the project were disclosed. The initiative resembles SkyPower’s 1,000-MW DRC Green Giant project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which progressed from the PPA between the Canada-based company and the state-owned utility SNEL to the 200-MW first phase development agreement earlier this year.

When welcoming the solar energy investment by UAE’s Masdar last year, Hichilema said that Zambia had developed only 3,500 MW of generation capacity since gaining independence.

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