Zambian electricity distribution company, ZESCO, has signed a Power-Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Integrated Clean Energy Power Company Ltd (CiEG) of China to produce 2,400 megawatts of renewable energy estimated at US$3.5 billion.
The power-purchase agreement will be rolled out in phases of 600MW and 800MW over three years in four provinces beginning this year, with 300MW in Southern Province and 300MW in Central Province.
The PPA comes at the back of the earlier investment of US$2.5 billion in 2,000MW (2Giga-watts) of energy by MASDAR from the United Arab Emirates.
This signifies the new dawn of the government’s strong resolve to achieve energy sufficiency for the domestic economy and energy surplus to enable increased exports as part of promoting export diversification and enhanced foreign currency earnings.
“This sizable Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Zambia from China is a testament to the reset and enhanced relations between the two countries for mutual benefit, which dates back to the two founding fathers—Chairman Mao and Dr Kenneth Kaunda,” Eng Peter Chibwe Kapala, Minister for Energy, said in a Facebook post aighted by this portal.
CiEG is an investment development and mergers and acquisitions of international projects arm for China Huadian Corporation.
China Huadian Corporation is a global energy company and a Chinese state-owned enterprise. It is the 3rd largest electricity power producer in the world and is listed on Fortune 500.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
