The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) is currently in talks with investors from Germany and Italy willing to invest in Zambia’s solar power.
The ZDA indicates in a press release that it has recently received queries from a German company aiming to invest USD500m in solar power to produce about 400MW of power.
Additionally, another group of investors from Italy are interested in setting up a solar plant in the Lusaka Multi-Facility Economic Zone (MFEZ) and two others in western and northwestern Zambia.
“The proposals from the two companies suggest that they are very serious investors and have the capability as well as the financial capacity to invest,” the ZDA notes.
The investments in solar power are expected to help Zambia diversify its power sources since the country depends mostly on hydropower which relies on steady rainfalls.
Hydropower accounts for 96% of Zambia’s electricity production while diesel accounts for the remaining 4%.
Zambia Electricity Demand
As a result of expansion in economic activities especially in the mines, the peak demand for electricity in Zambia increased from 1,100MW in 2001 to 1,600MW in 2009 while the country’s installed generation capacity is 2,434MW.
The growth in demand is estimated to be between 150MW and 200MW per annum. The demand for electricity in Zambia is expected to exceed 2500 MW by the year 2020.
