Canadian Solar supplies modules to Uganda’s largest PV project

Canadian Solar announced that it has supplied 10 MW of solar modules to East Africa’s biggest PV project, the Soroti Photovoltaics Plant, which was brought online late in 2016.

The Soroti facility, which consists of 32,000 polycrystalline solar panels, is the first PV plant to be connected to the country’s grid and also the first one in eastern Africa.

“We are happy to be part of the energy transition on the African continent. Africa is one of the best places on earth for solar energy. At the same time, we hope the solar energy development there will also stimulate the economy and create jobs locally,” said Shawn Qu, CEO of Canadian Solar.

With an estimated 80% of people in the country lacking access to electricity, the Soroti plant is a ray of light for as many as 40,000 homes, schools and businesses in the area.

The Soroti project was the first solar power plant to be developed under the Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariffs (GET FIT) facility, a support scheme for renewable energy projects set up by Germany’s KfW and the Ugandan government’s Electricity Regulatory Agency (ERA).

The $19 million project was developed by French clean power company Eren Re and African development specialists Access Energy Group, and executed by Spanish EPC firm TSK.

Though 40% of countries in the sub-Saharan region have very little in the way of renewable energy policy measures, Uganda, along with Kenya and Tanzania, is one of a few nations in the region to buck this trend, finds the World Bank’s RISE scorecard.