Ngonye Solar Power Station


Ngonye Solar Power Station, is a solar power plant in Zambia. The solar farm that was commercially commissioned in April 2019, was developed and is owned by a consortium comprising
Enel Green Power of Italy, a multinational renewable energy corporation, and the Industrial Development Corporation of Zambia, a parastatal company. The power station cost about US$40 million to develop.

Location

The power plant is located in the Lusaka South Multi-Facility Economic Zone, in Kafue District, in Lusaka Province, approximately, by road, southeast of the central business district of Lusaka, the capital of Zambia and the largest city in that country. The geographical coordinates of Ngonye Solar Power Station are 15°31'03.0"S, 28°25'44.0"E, situated immediately south of Bangweulu Solar Power Station.

Overview

The Government of Zambia, through IDC Zambia, working with the World Bank Group, as part of the bank's program "Scaling Solar", awarded the tender to develop this power station to Enel Green Power, a renewable energy subsidiary of Enel, the Italian multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. EGP and IDC formed an ad-hoc joint venture company, Ngonye Power Company Limited, to design, build, own and operate this power plant. The energy generated here will be purchased by Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation Limited, under a 25-year power purchase agreement, at US$0.078 per kWh.

Ownership

This power station is owned by a consortium whose members are illustrated in the table below. The members of the consortium formed a special purpose vehicle company Ngonye Power Company Limited, which operates and maintains the power station.
RankShareholderDomicileOwnership Notes
1Enel Green PowerItaly80.0
3IDC ZambiaZambia20.0

Funding, construction and timeline

The table below illustrates the sources of funding for this renewable energy infrastructure project:
RankFund SourceDollar Amount% of TotalNotes
1Enel4.8 million12.0Equity
2IDC Zambia1.2 million3.0Equity
3International Finance Corporation10.0 million25.0Loan
3IFC–Canada Climate Change Program12.0 million30.0Loan
4European Investment Bank12.0 million*30.0
Loan
Total40.0 million100.0-

  • Note: Some figures are rounded up to balance table totals.
Construction began in August 2018, and commercial commissioning was achieved in April 2019.