- The African Development Bank (AfDB) is providing $49.92 million in financing to Eritrea.
- The funds are for the construction of a 30 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant with storage near the town of Dekemhare.
The African Development Bank will contribute $49.92 million to the Dekemhare solar plant in Eritrea. (AfDB). Of this cash, the Transition Support Facility (TSF) will get $30.42 million, and the African Development Fund will contribute $19.5 million. (ADF). Eritrea’s installed electricity capacity will rise from 185 MW to 365 MW as a
A 30 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant will be built as part of the project close to the town of Dekemhare, which is located 40 km south of Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. Additionally, the Eritrean government intends to construct a 33/66 kV substation and a 66 kV transmission line to link to the already-existing line between East Asmara and Dekemhare, which is situated about 1 km away from the project site.
The project is anticipated to help close the energy deficit while lowering emissions by 42,910 tons of CO2 in an equivalent year and bringing down the cost of electricity production to 18.5 cents per kilowatt hour, according to the AfDB. Such an investment ought to aid in lowering reliance on fossil fuels. The Dekemhare solar power plant will also increase the share of renewable energy in Eritrea’s energy mix from 3% to 23%.
According to a 2015 International Energy Agency (IEA) assessment, the nation of East Africa is 90% reliant on fossil fuels, including diesel, to provide electricity. Building institutional capacity is one of the purposes of AfDB support. Support for technical research for further renewable energy initiatives is included here.
The project also covers performance enhancement, financial, legal, operational, and environmental elements, as well as capacity building for network planning and design. The Renewable Energy Center is also intended to be supported by the technical help.