Scatec Solar and Norfund begin construction on East Africa’s first utility-scale solar plant

OSLO, NORWAY: Scatec Solar, the global solar energy provider, have in partnership with Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries and Dutch developer Gigawatt Global Coöperatief, successfully closed on $23.7 million in financing on an 8.5 megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) solar park in Rwanda.

The project, East Africa's first utility-scale solar plant, will increase the country's power generation capacity by approximately 8 percent, and will contribute significantly towards the government's objective to increase fivefold the electricity generation capacity in Rwanda by 2017.

The PV plant will be located 60 km 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. The area is well suited for solar energy generation and annual production is estimated at 16 million kWh.

The electricity will be fed into the national grid under a 25 year power purchase agreement with the Rwanda Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA). Construction will start immediately and commercial operation of the park is expected by this summer.

The capital investment for the project will be financed through FMO, the Dutch Development Bank, the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund and and Norfund, all three institutions with long experience from investing in developing countries including Rwanda. Scatec Solar and Norfund will be majority owners in the solar park with project developer Gigawatt Global maintaining a 20 percent share in the project.