Green Giant Solar Power Station Explained

Green Giant Solar Power Station
Country:Democratic Republic of Congo
Coordinates:-4.7886°N 16.6678°W
Location:Democratic Republic of Congo
Status:P
Construction Began:2025 Expected
Commissioned:H2 2030 Expected
Owner:Green Giant Solar Consortium
Operator:Green Giant Solar Consortium
Solar Type:PV
Ps Electrical Capacity:200 MW: Phase 1
1,000 MW: Phase 4

The Green Giant Solar Power Station, is a 1000MW solar power station, under development in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The solar farm is owned and is being developed by SkyPower Global headquartered in Canada and the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), domiciled in Nigeria. The solar farm will be built in phases, with the first phase with generation capacity of 200 MW beginning construction by 2025. The off-taker is Société Nationale d'Électricité (SNEL), the national electricity company of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, under a long term power purchase agreement (PPA).[1]

Location

The power station would be located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on land under the control of SkyPower Ergergy (SkyPower Global).[1] [2]

Overview

SkyPower a Canadian independent power producer (IPP) and the Africa Finance Corporation of Nigeria have partnered with each other to jointly develop this solar farm. The 25-year PPA with SNEL was signed in September 2020. The first phase with capacity of 200 MW is expected to go into the construction phase by 2025. AFC is both an equity partner and financier of this project. The construction of the first phase is expected to cost about US$200 million.[1] [3]

Developers

The power station is under development by a consortium comprising SkyPower Global, a Canadian IPP and AFC, a pan-African multilateral development financial institution domiciled in Nigeria. It is expected that the developer/owners will form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) company to own, finance, build, operate and maintain this power station. For descriptive purposes, we will refer to the SPV as Green Giant Solar Consortium.[1] [4]

Construction timetable

If and when financial close is achieved in 2024 as anticipated, it is expected that construction will begin in Q1 2025.[1] [2] [5] A total of four phases are planned, to reach the planned maximum capacity of 1,000 MW. Phases 2, 3 and 4 are expected to be built after Phase 1.[6]

Other considerations

This power station is expected to diversify electricity sources in DRC, where solar power accounted for 20 MW out of a total of 2.9 GW of installed capacity as of December 2022.[2]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: DRC: can AFC unlock the 1,000 MW Green Giant solar megaproject? . Afrk21.africa . 21 February 2024 . Jean Marie Takouleu . 23 February 2024 . Paris, France.
  2. Web site: EnerData.com . SkyPower and AFC partner to develop a 1 GW solar project in the Congo DR . EnerData . 23 February 2024 . 24 February 2024 . Grenoble, France.
  3. Web site: SkyPower, Africa Finance Corporation to jointly develop solar power project in DRC . Zawya.com . 16 February 2024 . SA Kader and Anoop Menon . 23 February 2024 . Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
  4. Web site: DRC set to develop phase one of Green Giant project . Pumps Africa . 18 February 2024 . Anita Anyango . 23 February 2024 . Nairobi, Kenya.
  5. Web site: AFC, SkyPower Sign Agreement for Construction Mega Solar Plant in DRC . 8 March 2024 . Energy & Utilities . Uchechukwu Okoro . 19 June 2024 . Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
  6. Web site: . UAE firm to install Dh734-million clean energy plant in DR Congo . 18 February 2024 . Waheed Abbas . 27 February 2024 . United Arab Emirates.