According to its London-based joint developer, the 20 MW Golomoti photovoltaic project will provide 10 MWh of lithium-ion battery storage for the sub-Saharan African market for the first time.
President Lazarus Chakwera-pictured with Scotland's Chief Minister Nicola Sturgeon on the eve of the recent COP26 climate change summit-opened his country's first utility-scale grid-connected solar power plant.
As the President of Malawi launched the country's first utility-scale solar power plant this week, a London-based multilateral development agency participating in the project confirmed that it plans to connect to a second power grid by "early 2022."
President Lazarus Chakwera pressed the switch at the 60 MWac Salima solar power plant developed by the Kanzimbe community in Salima District, about 110 kilometers northeast of Lilongwe on the shore of Lake Malawi.
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InfraCo Africa Development Group, supported by the governments of the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, reported the inauguration ceremony in a press release yesterday. It also stated that the 20 MWac Golomoti solar park planned in the Dedza district will be the first utility-scale solar and power grid -Connect photovoltaic power plants in sub-Saharan Africa to equip the expected type of batteries.
Given that the Chinese inverter manufacturer Sungrow announced in May that the Golomoti facility will be operational this year, this update seems to indicate a setback for the latter project. According to a report in Photovoltaic Magazine, Sungrow said that this 20 MW/10 MWh project will use medium-voltage solar + energy storage technology, with lithium-ion batteries forming energy storage components.
The Salima project was named the annual utility-scale project at an award ceremony held by the African Solar Energy Industry Association yesterday. It was originally developed by InfraCo Africa, Toronto renewable energy company JCM Power Corp, and South African investor Matswani Private Capital. InfraCo stated that Matswani was replaced by FMO (Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden) in the financing phase related to site construction.
Both Salima and Golomoti will sell electricity to the Malawi National Utility Electricity Supply Company. Both power purchase agreements were signed in September 2018, and InfraCo specified that the Salima contract will run for 20 years.
JCM and InfraCo are also working on the Golomoti project, which appears to be aided by a network of British government agencies. InfraCo describes this arrangement as "a commercial energy and industrial strategy through innovation in the UK’s energy catalysts [sic] international climate finance Support and Lina."
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