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A consortium of Gridworks, AEE Power, and Eranove will deploy three off-grid projects in the DRC.
- The companies will construct three large-scale, solar-hybrid plants in three cities in the northern region.
- The electrification rate in the DRC is one of the lowest globally at just 9%
Gridworks, AEE Power, and Eranove have signed three 22-year concession agreements from the Ministry of Hydraulic Resources and Electricity of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to deploy $100 million off-grid solar projects. Under the agreements, the consortium will develop, build and operate three large-scale, solar-hybrid, off-grid power plants. The power plants will supply the cities of Gemena, Bumba, and Isiro with electricity. The cities are located in the north of the country and do not have access to the national grid.
A minimum of US$100 million will be required as an initial investment for the sites. Financing will be provided via a mixture of equity from the consortium, debt provided by development finance institutions (DFIs) and capital grants from donors and DFIs, Gridworks stated. The consortium is also in talks with the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund and the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the provision of debt finance and also with the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), the Rockefeller Foundation and the AfDB’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa for the potential provision of grants.
The consortium plans to reach a financial close for the projects within the next 14 months, with project commissioning scheduled for 18 months after the commencement of operations. The DRC has one of the lowest electrification rates globally, as only 9 per cent of the population have electricity access. Installed capacity of just 2.67 GW.