- SkyPower Global has entered into a Joint Development Agreement with AFC for a solar power project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- The two firms will jointly invest and develop the 200-megawatt (MW) first phase of a 1,000MW solar power project in the country.
SkyPower Global, a developer and operator of solar power projects, has announced that it has entered into a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with Lagos-based multilateral finance institution Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) for the first phase of SkyPower’s Green Giant solar power project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The two firms will jointly invest and develop the 200-megawatt (MW) first phase of a 1,000MW solar power project in the central African nation, SkyPower said in a press statement, adding that construction of the plant will commence by 2025.
The partnership combines SkyPower’s global experience in developing large-scale solar projects and AFC’s proven track record of successfully de-risking and distributing capital for well-structured power and other infrastructure projects across Africa, the statement said.
During the JDA signing ceremony, Kerry Adler, President & Chief Executive Officer of SkyPower, said the company and the DRC’s state-owned utility, Société Nationale d’Electricité (SNEL), signed a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the project. He also disclosed that the first phase will cost $200 million, create 6,000 job years, and add $700 million to the DRC’s GDP.
Amadou Wadda, Senior Director of Project Development and Technical Solutions at AFC, said partnering with SkyPower, which has more than 20 years of global expertise in large-scale solar projects, is well aligned with the institution’s mission to advance energy access on the continent through renewable energy.
Wadda said, “This agreement underlines AFC’s pivotal contribution to promoting renewable energy solutions and both AFC and SkyPower’s unwavering commitment and dedication to ensuring a greener, more resilient world.”
SkyPower currently has a 10GW pipeline of projects in various stages of development, construction, and operation in the Middle East and Africa. It has over 30 utility-scale solar PPAs in operation across the globe and contracts amounting to more than $60 billion in long-term renewable energy sales to utilities and government partners.