African Development Bank bags US$52.5 million financing for 100MW of Zambian renewables

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Zambia’s energy mix is heavily reliant on hydro-power and is facing a serious electricity supply deficit. Flickr: UNIDO

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) will provide a US$50 million loan and a US$2.5 million grant to the African Development Bank to support 100MW of – primarily solar – projects under Zambia’s Renewable Energy Financing Framework.

The projects will make use of Zambia’s feed-in tariff (FiT) programme, which was launched in 2017 for projects up to 20MW in size.

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Zambia’s energy mix is heavily reliant on hydro-power and is facing a serious electricity supply deficit due to recent droughts, hence its focus on diversifying electricity supply.

This is the first program that will be co-financed by the GCF and the African Development Bank following the signing of an Accreditation Master Agreement on 8 November 2017 between the two institutions.

“This is a significant first fruit of our joint commitment for development and growth in Africa that aligns with the Paris Agreement. We look forward to partnering further with the Green Climate Fund to help increase Africa’s share of climate finance,” said Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank. 

“This innovative project represents an important and fitting milestone in our partnership with GCF. Not only do the projects pave the way for providing clean, sustainable energy to around 300,000 people, through diversifying Zambia’s energy mix.  It will also make the country more resilient to the effects of climate change.” said Amadou Hott, vice president for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth at the African Development Bank.

Zambia is soon set to launch round 1 of its GET FiT programme, with 100MW of solar PV up for grabs.

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