More than 2.5 million Mozambicans may gain access to solar energy

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

More than 2.5 million Mozambicans may gain access to solar energy

3:43 CAT | 10 Sep 2020

Photo: O País

The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) will finance an Ignite Mozambique project to supply solar energy to the population in rural areas, under the government’s ‘Energy for All’ programme.
Executive director Pedro Coutinho of Source Capital, a company that finances Ignite Mozambique, says DBSA’s support will be divided into two phases.

A first phase, budgeted at around US$2.2 million, is expected to finance around 30,000 solar system installations. Depending on its success, a second disbursement may reach US$30 million.

The new money available has boosted the project’s ambitions. “What we are announcing here today is real growth,” Coutinho says.

When the agreement between Ignite and the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy was signed in February 2019, the plan was to reach 1.8 million Mozambicans, but with the DBSA financing, the project is now expected to benefit more than 2.5 million people across the country.

At the moment, basic lighting systems capable of supplying three globes are being installed, at a monthly cost of 300.00 meticais for a period of three years.

So far, about 7,000 installations have been carried out in districts of Zambézia and Niassa provinces. By the end of this year, the number is expected to rise to 12,500, and the project will expand to the provinces of Sofala and Manica.

“Based on the experience we have, I would say that our ambition is, in the second year, to stabilise at around 50,000 to 60,000 connections per year,” Coutinho says, reflecting the optimism regarding the impact of the new funding on the project.

By Velsoma Cumbana

Source: O País