Enel Green Power (EGP), the global renewable energy division of the Enel Group, has started construction work on Ngonye, a 34 MW1 solar photovoltaic plant. The plant – the Group's first in Zambia – is located in the Lusaka South Multi-Facility Economic Zone, in the southern part of the country. Ngonye is part of the Scaling Solar program of the World Bank Group implemented by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of Zambia, the company from which in June 2016 Enel was awarded the right to own, develop, finance, construct and operate the 'plant.
"The start of construction of the Ngonye solar plant represents a new milestone for strengthening the Enel Group's presence on the African continent, where we are already the leading private operator for renewables in terms of installed capacity", commented Antonio Cammisecra, head of Enel Green Power, Enel's global renewable energy division "Thanks to its clean, sustainable and secure energy production, Ngonye will play a significant role in achieving Zambia's electrification goals, demonstrating once again how renewable generation plants utility-scale are the most effective solution to ensure the continent's access to electricity”.
Enel will invest approximately US$40 million in the construction of Ngonye, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2019. In June, the Enel Group signed a financing agreement with IDC of approximately US$34 million for the construction of the solar plant, which includes senior loans of up to US$10 million from the International Financing Corporation (IFC) (World Bank Group), up to US$12 million from the IFC-Canada Climate Change Program and up to US$11,75 million from US dollars from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
