Scatec Solar extends footprint in Africa

© psdesign1 – Fotolia.com

It will increase the country's electricity generation capacity by about 8% and contribute significantly towards the government's objective to increase fivefold the electricity generation capacity in Rwanda by 2017.

Scatec Solar is developing the Rwanda project in partnership with Norfund - the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries - and Dutch developer Gigawatt Global Coöperatief. The plant's estimated annual output of 16 million kilowatt hours will be fed into the national grid under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Rwanda Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA).

Fast and cost effective

"The PPA with EWSA was signed in July 2013 and the PV plant will be operational by July 2014, so through this project we will demonstrate that with the combined efforts of experienced partners and national authorities, solar energy is fast and cost effective to build," says Carlsen.

The PV plant is located 60km from the capital of Kigali on land belonging to the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), a residential and educational community for youth orphaned during and after the genocide in 1994. ASYV is leasing land to house the solar facility and the fees will help pay for a portion of the village's charitable expenses.

The PV facility is part of the Rwanda government's aggressive plan to boost the nation's generation capacity. The objective is for 50% of the population to have access to electricity by 2017 and installed generation capacity increased to 560MW, up from only 110MW in 2013.

Local projects

Scatec Solar is developing three solar PV plants with combined installed capacity of 190MW under South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme. Its first project, the 75MW Kalkbult park in the Northern Cape, was completed three months ahead of schedule late last year and became the first utility-scale renewable energy plant to supply electricity to South Africa's national grid.

"The Kalkbult plant is currently Africa's largest operational solar PV project," says Scatec Solar CEO, Raymond Carlsen. "We are now very happy to be able to realise the first utility scale PV project in Rwanda. Our objective is to bring the experience gained in South Africa to other African nations."