The Eswatini Civil Aviation Authority (ESWACAA) has kicked-off a tender for the construction of an 850 kW solar plant at the KM III International Airport.
The facility will be developed under the build, own, operate and transfer (BOT) project model. Interested independent power producers will have time until December 22 to submit their expressions of interest.
The selected IPP will be awarded a 20-year PPA. “At least 15% of the total value of labor during construction must be from Eswatini entities,” the tender document reads. “Furthermore, 10% of material should be sourced locally.”
State-owned utility the Eswatini Electricity Co – formerly known as Swaziland Electricity Co – has only around 60 MW of power generation capacity, about enough to meet 10% of the kingdom’s demand. The nation imports most of its power from Mozambique and South Africa via the Southern African Power Pool.
In order to increase its power generation capacity, the Eswatini Energy Regulatory Authority issued, in 2019, a tender for the development of 40 MW of solar generation capacity by 2020 and 40 MW of biomass by 2021.
At the end of last year, the African country had only 1 MW of installed PV capacity, according to the latest figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency.
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Eswatini initiates a tender for the installation of a PV plant at the international airport, showcasing a strategic move towards sustainable energy deployment.