Green Giant Solar Power Station
| Green Giant Solar Power Station | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | Democratic Republic of Congo |
| Location | Democratic Republic of Congo |
| Coordinates | 04°47′19″S 16°40′04″E / 4.78861°S 16.66778°E |
| Status | Proposed |
| Construction began | 2025 Expected |
| Commission date | H2 2030 Expected |
| Owner(s) | Green Giant Solar Consortium |
| Operator(s) | Green Giant Solar Consortium
  Green Giant Solar Power Station Green Giant Solar Power Station (Democratic Republic of the Congo) |
| Solar farm | |
| Type | Flat-panel PV |
| Power generation | |
| Nameplate capacity | 200 MW: Phase 1 1,000 MW: Phase 4 |
The Green Giant Solar Power Station, is a 1,000 MW (1,300,000 hp) 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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
If and when financial close is achieved in 2024 as anticipated, it is expected that construction will begin in Q1 2025.[1][5] A total of four phases are planned, to reach the planed maximum capacity of 1,000 MW. Phases 2, 3 and 4 are expected to be built after Phase 1.[6]
Other considerations[edit]
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[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Jean Marie Takouleu (21 February 2024). "DRC: can AFC unlock the 1,000 MW Green Giant solar megaproject?". Afrk21.africa. Paris, France. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- ^ a b EnerData (23 February 2024). "SkyPower and AFC partner to develop a 1 GW solar project in the Congo DR". EnerData.com. Grenoble, France. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ SA Kader and Anoop Menon (16 February 2024). "SkyPower, Africa Finance Corporation to jointly develop solar power project in DRC". Zawya.com. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- ^ Anita Anyango (18 February 2024). "DRC set to develop phase one of Green Giant project". Pumps Africa. Nairobi, Kenya. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- ^ EnerData (23 February 2024). "SkyPower and AFC partner to develop a 1 GW solar project in the Congo DR". EnerData.com. Grenoble, France. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ Waheed Abbas (18 February 2024). "UAE firm to install Dh734-million clean energy plant in DR Congo". Khaleej Times. United Arab Emirates. Retrieved 27 February 2024.