African power development company Ncondezi Energy has secured a land agreement for its 300MW solar PV project in Tete, Mozambique.
The solar assets will be paired with a battery energy storage system.
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The agreement was finalised with the country’s government, allowing for exclusive use of the land for solar PV operations. The 950 hectare area would be sufficient to support 500MW capacity, Ncondezi said.
“This is a critical permitting requirement for the project, reflecting both strong local support and the expedited process we are executing since announcing the positive feasibility study last October,” said Ncondezi CEO Hanno Pengilly.
“An update on our preferred transmission solution to connect to the Mozambican grid is expected in the next two months. The solar project is strategically positioned from a transmission perspective, having access to existing grid networks with available capacity and multiple evacuation paths in Mozambique and the wider southern African region.”
According to the World Bank, only 30% of the Mozambican population had access to energy in 2017. Ncondezi has positioned itself as a contributor to Mozambique’s goal of universal electricity access by 2030. Grid connections and electricity access are of large concern in southern Africa. Measures announced by the South African government in August 2022 are aimed at increasing grid capacity and stability to enable greater deployment of renewable energy.
More broadly, an announcement from the Bank of America and CrossBoundary Energy to seek financing solutions for projects across Africa highlighted intentions to bolster electricity access through building mini-grids amongst other things.
PV Tech covered the initial announcement of the Ncondezi project in July.