International Finance Corporation (IFC), subsidiary of the World Bank, has awarded a $55 million financing to Mozambique for the construction of its first utility scale solar photovoltaic plant.

With a capacity 40.5MW, the infrastructure will be developed in Mocuba by Norwegian firm Scatec Solar. It will provide power to 175,000 households and costs $80 million. Power produced at the plant will be sold to Electricidade de Moçambique (EdM), as part of a 25-year power purchase agreement.

In details, $55 million provided only partly comes from IFC. Indeed, while the institution disbursed $19 million, another $19 million and $17 million came from the Climate Investment Fund and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF).

“Our investment in Mozambique’s first utility scale solar power plant reaffirms IFC’s commitment to renewable energy in emerging markets. This investment will expand electricity supply in one of the least developed regions of the country”, said Jumoke Jagun-Dokunmu, IFC Country.

Gwladys Johnson