Gigawatt Global breaks ground in its 7.5-MW solar field site in Burundi
The East African country of Burundi is set to start construction on its first utility-scale solar plant as Gigawatt Global, a leading frontier solar and social development enterprise, breaks ground in the site of its 7.5 MW solar field in Mubuga, located 100 km outside of the Burundian capital of Bujumbura.
The solar field, worth US$14 million, will add 15% to the generation capacity of one of the world’s least developed nation. The construction and interconnection of the project to the national grid is expected to be concluded in the fourth quarter of 2017.
“This high impact development investment supported by leading international financial institutions signals that Burundi is open for development and business,”said Michael Fichtenberg, VP for Finance and Business Development of Gigawatt Global.
This will be the largest private international investment in the power sector in Burundi in nearly 30 years, with the power being sold for 25 years to REGIDESO, the national electric company.
Gigawatt Global, an American-owned Dutch developer, is a founding member of the White House Power Africa initiative. It financed and developed the first commercial scale solar field in continental sub-Sahara Africa (outside of South Africa) in neighboring Rwanda in 2014.
“After their success in Rwanda, Gigawatt Global has proven it can be relied on to deliver efficient, clean renewable energy at reasonable cost, contributing greatly to our economy and society. We look forward to the speedy completion of this project, and are thankful for the collaboration and cooperation with Gigawatt Global as energy in Burundi is a clear priority,”said His Excellency Come Manirakiza, Burundi’s Minister of Energy and Mines.
The project has been supported by a grant from the Energy and Environment Partnership (a Finland, UK, Austrian fund) and the Belgian Investment Company for Developing countries (BIO) to cover the relevant studies. The project is also supported by African-EU Renewable Energy Cooperation Programme (RECP) and the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP), currently engaging in project due diligence.
Gigawatt Global CEO Josef Abramowitz said the company, as partners of the White House Power Africa initiative, is expecting to deploy US$2 billion in renewable energy projects in Africa in the coming years as renewables are taking the lead in power generation in the continent and emerging markets.
Gigawatt Global is targeting sub-Sahara Africa as a high impact and high growth market, with a portfolio of small, medium and large power projects in the highest priority development areas, Abramowitz added.