ZAMBIA 

Zambia is a large, yet sparsely populated land-locked country situated in south-central Africa. 

Like many countries in this area, Zambia is facing electricity shortages and load shedding as a result of the poorly managed power infrastructure and ongoing drought at the Kariba Dam, which the country uses for its electricity supplies. 

As for electrification rates, only 44.5% of the country’s population has access to electricity, with just 14% of this figure made up of rural residents.  

Though it does not have a net-zero emissions goal or fossil fuel phase-out policy, Zambia is a part of the Paris Agreement and will reduce its carbon footprint in line with this. Zambia also has its sights on expanding and improving its energy infrastructure with solar power via the Scaling Solar Programme, which will oversee the installation of at least 600MW of solar power. 

So, how are large-scale PV projects helping Zambia meet this goal? 

PLANNED PROJECTS 

Plenty of large-scale PV projects have been in the pipeline for Zambia in recent years. For example, the Alten Energy Zambia Solar PV Park 2, which boasts a 20 MW capacity, is set to reach commercial operation in 2024, after construction was planned for 2022. 

Also in 2022, the state-owned utility company Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) launched a tender for PV projects with a total capacity of 50MW across the country.  

At the start of 2023, Zambia received assistance from the United Arab Emirates’ renewable energy company Masdar, which promised to support the development of PV projects worth up to $2 billion. The collaboration set out to install 500MW of solar as soon as possible, providing an additional 2000MW of electricity in the country once completed. 

SegenSolar is keen to foster the development of additional small and large-scale PV installations across Zambia. If you are a homeowner, you can get in touch for more details about our work. If you are an installer, you can explore our range on the portal — just log in or sign up for a free account