Financial close for Mozambique’s first solar-plus-storage project

A grid scale solar-plus-storage project which has been described as Mozambique's first such system is set to be supplying power during the second half of next year.

The Globeleq entity backed by U.K. and Norwegian public money this morning announced financial close on the 19 MWp (15 MWac) Cuamba solar project, which will feature a 2 MW/7 MWh battery system.

Described as a $32 million project in a press release issued by Globeleq in the summer, the facility was yesterday labelled a $36 million site by the lead backer of the project, which is 70% owned by the U.K.'s CDC Group – which will be rebranded British International Investment in April – and 30% owned by Norwegian state development body Norfund.

Globeleq also revealed the battery system will be supplied by the E22 business which is ultimately owned by Spanish energy company Alvealia Group.

The Cuamba project, to be constructed by around 100 workers in the Tetereane district of Niassa province, has received a $19 million loan from the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund which is financed by the governments of the U.K., Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands.

A $7 million grant provided by the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) will subsidize the price to be paid by state-owned utility Electricidade de Moçambique for the electricity generated at the site, under a 25-year power purchase agreement. The grant will also help fund grid upgrades needed to accommodate the solar and battery system. PIDG is financed by the International Finance Corp private sector arm of the World Bank and the governments of the U.K., the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Sweden, and Germany.

U.K. government-owned development body CDC Group supplied a $1 million grant to help pay for the battery system, under a viability gap funding program which supplies the backing needed to shore up the business case of projects.

Construction

Spanish company TSK will provide engineering, procurement and construction services for a site described as “Mozambique's first grid scale battery energy storage system” by Olivia Carballo, a director at the Ninety One Ltd Anglo-South African asset management business which manages the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund.

CDC's Sarah Marchand, quoted in the press release issued by Globeleq today, said the project would be “one of sub-Saharan Africa’s first grid scale battery energy storage systems,” and Electricidade de Moçambique chairman Marcelino Gildo Alberto said Cuamba would help deliver on the Mozambique government's plan to install 200 MW of renewables generation capacity under its latest five-year plan.