Cuamba Solar

$19m of debt and $7m of viability gap funding from PIDG TA to develop, construct and operate 19MW greenfield solar plant and 7MWh battery energy storage in Cuamba, Mozambique.

Direct impact on people

SDG assessment
7.1 + 7.2 – Access to affordable and reliable renewable energy.

Expected impact
66k consumers are expected to benefit across a mix of income groups/gender. Largest impact will be felt by users that consume the most power.

Direct impact on planet

SDG assessment
13 – Climate change mitigation.

Expected impact
Avoid 6.3k tCO2e per year.

 

Market transformation
Challenge: Solar energy is intermittent which poses challenges for operation of the grid to consistently and reliably meet electric demand.
Channel: Demonstration of first utility scale energy storage system in Mozambique and one of the first in SSA.
Outcome: The utility and the project company will share the data and learnings publicly which should encourage other utilities and investors to adopt battery technology in the future.

 

PIDG TA
$7m of viability gap funding was provided along with $130k for an advisor to the utility to build capacity and support the completion of commercial agreements.

Climate risk
Transition: Paris aligned.
Physical: Risks considered and where possible mitigated.