Page 11 - AfrElec Week 32

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
Mozambique. “We are proud to complete
the rst large scale solar power plant in Mozambique in close cooperation with our partners. e solar plant will be an important contributor to increase the share of renewable power in the country by delivering clean energy to around 175,000 households”, says Raymond Carlsen, CEO of Scatec Solar.
e 40 MW solar plant is located close to the city of Mocuba in the Zambézia Province and will deliver 79 GWh per year of much needed electricity to the northern regions
of Mozambique. e clean energy produced by the Mocuba plant will contribute to avoid about 75,000 tonnes of carbon emissions
per year. Equity partners are KLP Norfund Investments (22.5%), EDM -Electricidade de Mozambique (25%), and Scatec Solar (52.5%). e 25-years Power Purchase Agreement was signed in October 2016 with the state-owned utility EDM. With grid connection of this power plant, Scatec Solar currently has plants with a total capacity of 951 MW in operation and another 953 MW under construction.
IFC, MIGA support landmark wind farm in Egypt
IFC and MIGA, members of the World Bank Group, signed an agreement to support the development of a 252MW wind farm by Lekela in Egypt’s Red Sea governorate.
IFC will provide $84mn in nancing while MIGA will o er $122mn in nancial guarantees, helping to bolster the production of clean energy, lower generation costs, and diversify the country’s energy mix.
e wind farm, West Bakr Wind, located in the Gulf of Suez, is expected to produce over 1,000GWh per year, at a tari well below the average cost of generation in Egypt, powering more than 350,000 homes and avoiding
more than 550,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
It is part of the government’s Build, Own, Operate framework and a key pillar of targets to generate 20 percent of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2022, reducing Egypt’s reliance on natural gas.
“ e West Bakr Wind project will
play an important role in supporting the diversi cation of Egypt’s generation capacity by delivering best-in-class and competitively priced clean power in the country,” said Chris Antonopoulos, CEO of Lekela. “As our rst project in Egypt, we see great opportunity with wind here, and we look forward to working in the country for years to come.”
IFC’s contribution, in the form of much needed US-dollar-based long-term nancing, includes an A loan of up to $26mn and
$58mn from IFC’s innovative syndications platform, the Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Programme.
MIGA is providing guarantees of up
to $122mn to help Lekela manage non- commercial risk. IFC and MIGA are also providing key environmental and social guidance to safeguard an important migratory bird yway. IFC and MIGA’s engagements complement the World Bank Development Policy Financing Programme, a new $1bn programme signed in December 2018 to support the second generation of Egypt’s reform programme, which will focus on developing the private sector while enabling inclusive growth.
IFC
EAIF reaches green
milestones in Mozambique,
Uganda, Tanzania
Two Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) renewable energy projects that will produce a total of 54MW of clean power have celebrated important milestones.
On August 10, Mozambique’s President, His Excellency Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, declared open the 40MW Central Solar de Mocuba (CESOM) solar power plant.
On August 7, the 14MW Kikagati hydro power station being built on the border between Uganda and Tanzania reached nancial close, meaning that the rst tranche of debt funding has been released to the Kikagati Power Company (KPC), which will own and operate the plant when construction is complete.
EAIF, which is a PIDG company, specialises in providing high value long- term loans to private sector infrastructure projects in Africa. It draws its funds from the
governments of the UK, e Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland and private banks and nancial institutions.
CESOM is a core element in the Mozambique government’s strategy of incentivising the creation of small and medium-sized businesses in the mainly rural Mocuba area of the country.
EAIF has loaned US$24.9mn of the US$76mn capital cost of the project. e energy being generated will be a catalyst for regional economic development in the north of Mozambique. CESOM is majority owned by the Norwegian energy business Scatec Solar, with Mozambique’s public electricity utility owning 25% and the Norwegian investment organisation, Norfund, holding 22.5%.
e announcement of the nancial close
of the US$54mn debt nance package for the Kikagati hydro-electricity station brings closer a new source of electricity that will be equally shared between Uganda and Tanzania.
e plant is located on the Kagera River, which is on the border between the two nations. 100% of the energy generated by KPC will be bought by the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited, Uganda’s single-buyer and transmission organisation, which will then sell half the energy on to Tanzania.
EAIF is lending US$27mn and the Dutch development bank, FMO, has contributed the same amount. Both loans have 16-year terms. e overall cost of the project is US$87mn.
Kikagati Power Company Limited is backed by the Africa Renewable Energy Fund, a US$205mn fund managed by Berkeley Energy e plant will bene t from the “GetFiT” programme, which is funded by a number of European governments and the EU. GetFiT funding brings down the average cost of power to consumers.
EAIF
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