60 MW Malawi PV Project Enters Construction

• The planned Salima Solar Power Plant with 60 MW capacity has entered construction stage in Malawi
• InfraCo Africa and JCM Power plan to use 230,000 solar panels for the project and bring it online by the end of 2019
• It is the country's first solar independent power producer to have reached construction stage

Construction has officially begun on 60 MW Salima Solar Project in Malawi's Kazimbe village in Salima district. InfraCo Africa and JCM Power broke ground at the project site to develop what they call the first solar independent power producer (IPP) of its kind in Malawi that has reached the construction stage.

Equipped with 230,000 solar panels, the project is expected to come online and connected to the grid by the end of 2019. In September 2018, project company JCM Matswani Solar Corp Limited secured a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi Limited (ESCOM) (see Malawi's ESCOM Signs PPA For 60 MW Solar Project).

At the ground-breaking ceremony, country's President Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika said, "The time has come to address our power problem, now and for future generations. I want to say farewell to blackouts." He added, "The Salima Solar power project is taking a leading role in power generation."

JCM Power and InfraCo Africa are also collaborating on another solar power project in the country – in Golomoti. JCM is conducting a feasibility study for Salima Solar's sister project Golomoti Solar with a grant coming from the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) (see USTDA Grant For Feasibility Study For 40 MW Malawi).

InfraCo Africa says the 2 projects at Salima and Golomoti will increase Malawi's installed power generation capacity by over 80 MW by 2020.