The Ministry of Energy has announced that GEI Power and YEO aim to have a 60MWp solar PV and 20MWh BESS project operational in Zambia by September 2025. This $65 million endeavour is expected to help alleviate power shortages in the country.
First Solar Plant With Storage Capacity
GEI and YEO have established a dedicated entity, Cooma Solar Power Plant Limited, to construct and manage the project in southern Zambia’s Choma district. While the Ministry’s statement did not specify the power rating of the battery energy storage system (BESS), it did confirm an energy storage capacity of 20MWh.
According to information on GEI’s website, the project’s primary customers will include Zambia’s state utility and a mining firm.
In addition to providing engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services, the Turkish energy solutions and technology company YEO offers its own grid-scale lithium iron phosphate (LFP) BESS product through its subsidiary, REAP Battery. Dr Francesca Chisangano Zyambo, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Energy, suggested that YEO’s participation could pave the way for a manufacturing facility in Zambia, stating, “We also aim to leverage the engineering and battery storage expertise from Turkey to establish an assembly plant within the country.” Meanwhile, GEI Power is developing several other renewable energy projects across Zambia. Alongside the Cooma project, the company’s Kazungula Solar Power Plant (KSPP)—a 50MW PV-plus-BESS project in Choma—is in advanced stages of development. GEI Power also has two solar-plus-green-hydrogen projects planned for the Chinkakata and Sesheke districts. The Sesheke district may also host the initial phase of a 400MWh BESS rollout by local developer GreenCo, as reported last year by Energy-Storage.news. Without substantial investments in energy access, Zambia risks being left behind in the clean energy transition. Access to finance is pivotal for Off-Grid Solar (OGS) companies to move beyond grant funding and operate commercially. To address this, an initiative known as the REACH Sessions brings together public funders—such as government entities, aid agencies, and foundations—with investors to discuss opportunities and challenges in Zambia’s distributed renewable energy (DRE) sector. The REACH Sessions provide a platform for public funders to gain direct insights from investors about their experiences in Zambia, covering successes, challenges, and opportunities. Through these presentations and discussions, investors offer valuable feedback to help public funders design innovative de-risking mechanisms that stimulate debt and equity investments in the country’s off-grid solar sector. In a significant development last year, the UAE-owned independent power producer (IPP) Masdar signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with state-owned utility Zesco to develop 2GW of solar PV projects in Zambia, as reported by PV Tech. Zambia—represented by Zesco—is part of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), a collaborative effort among the southernmost African countries to establish a shared power grid. The SAPP includes Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.Leveraging Turkey’s Engineering Expertise
Funding Solar Projects in Zambia
