President Edgar Lungu has commissioned a 54-MW solar power plant, as the construction of the Bangweulu plant reached completion. The plant is Zambia’s largest renewable energy project, constructed at a cost of $60 million.

The solar power plant under the Bangweulu Power Company Limited is a JV of the Industrial Development Corporation and Neoen, a French company.

The World Bank Group’s Scaling Solar Project awarded a contract to Neoen to construct a 100 MW solar power plant from the planned 500 MW under the project.

Neoen holds a majority stake in the Bangweulu solar park and will be selling electricity to ZESCO for the next 25 years at a rate of $60.15 per MWh.

The project represents a total investment of $60 million, $39 million of which was contributed by the IFC and OPIC.

During the launch, President Lungu praised the IDC for taking up the challenge to create an energy mix to bring solar power into the national electricity grid in response to the electricity deficit that affected the country in 2015.