• Terra Metals has invested in the Nalolo Solar project in Zambia with local and regional partners.
• The plant is planned at about 300 megawatts, with final contracted capacity not yet confirmed.
• Regulatory approvals are complete, but financing, construction and tariff details remain undisclosed.

Terra Metals Inc., a Delaware-registered company, announced on Sept. 14 a strategic equity investment in the Nalolo Solar Project in Zambia. The initiative is being advanced with pan-African financier Investment Bank of Africa (IBA) and Nalolo Solar Power Energy Company (NASPEC), a Zambian special-purpose vehicle.

The planned solar facility is located on a 664-hectare site in Nalolo District, Western Province. Public filings list two capacity figures: 300 megawatts on the alternating-current grid side and about 393 MWp on the direct-current panel side. The sponsors have yet to clarify the final contracted capacity.

Regulatory milestones have been cleared, with the Zambia Environmental Management Agency approving the project’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment. Feasibility-level studies are complete, placing the scheme among the most advanced independent solar proposals in the country.

Despite these steps, there is no public evidence that financing has reached financial close. Neither the sponsors nor state utility ZESCO have announced the appointment of an engineering-procurement-construction contractor, leaving the project short of a construction start.

Ownership details released so far list Terra Metals as equity investor, IBA as financier, and NASPEC as the Zambian SPV. No disclosure has been made regarding potential stakes for state holding company Industrial Development Corporation of Zambia, ZESCO itself, or other investors.

A long-term power purchase agreement has been signed with ZESCO as the off-taker. However, tariff schedules, escalation formulas, and take-or-pay provisions have not been published. Whether Terra Metals or other mining companies will procure power through bilateral or wheeling arrangements remains unspecified.

The sponsors project more than 500 direct jobs during construction but have yet to release estimates for capital cost, a construction start date, or commercial-operation date. No transmission upgrade contracts have been advertised by ZESCO’s grid division, underlining that the Nalolo project remains at the pre-construction stage despite regulatory approval.

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