German EPC firm Droege Energy develops a 20 MW floating solar power plant in Malawi and entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM). The Monkey Bay Solar Floating Plant will come up in Mangochi region on Lake Malawi, according to local media reports.
The 20 MW project which Droege Energy describes as the first of its kind in Africa is expected to be completed within a year's time.
This project was among 14 PPAs ESCOM signed recently, representing 542 MW of generation capacity that will be connected to the national grid by 4 independent power producers (IPP) using hydropower, wind and solar power technologies.
The list includes PPAs with Quantel Renewable Energy and its partners for a 50 MW solar PV park to be developed in Ulalo Nyirendra Village in Mzimba district on 125 acres of land.
Among other solar PPAs ESCOM signed on the occasion was a 20 MW solar PV plant with storage component with Kanengo Solar Project Limited to be developed at Kanengo in Lilongwe.
Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) said the country was looking at blackouts in the medium term as the country struggles to diversify its energy sources and bring in electricity security. With the 14 PPAs signed, Malawi expects to have an oversupply of electricity in 3 years' time. MERA CEO Collins Magalasi said they are already negotiating markets for this power, according to local news portal The Nation.
According to a February 2019 update on ESCOM website, 138.5 MW solar power capacity is likely to come online in the second half of 2019. The 20 MW Kanengo Atlas Solar PV with Storage project is one of these projects expected to be commissioned by Q4/2019.
In September 2018, South Africa's Council for Scientific & Industrial Research advertised for a consultant to prepare a solar PV technology roadmap for Malawi (see Consultant Sought For PV Roadmap In Malawi).