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(Bloomberg) — Zimbabwe’s major power users are seeking as much as $350 million for an ambitious floating solar plant and have secured $4.4 million from the African Export-Import Bank for a feasibility study.
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“We start the study immediately,” Eddie Cross, chairman of the Intensive Energy User Group, told Bloomberg on Friday. “Total investment will depend on the study and open public tenders, but we have asked for $350 million.”
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The IEUG, made up of mining companies including a former local unit of Rio Tinto and Mimosa, plans a 1,000 megawatt hybrid floating solar panel facility in Lake Kariba, the world’s largest man-made lake. It aims to complete a 500 megawatt pilot by the end of 2026.
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Zimbabwe was stricken by power cuts last year after a severe drought curbed hydro-electricity generation at Kariba Dam, which produces half of the southern African nation’s power. Zimbabwe currently generates 430 megawatts at Kariba against an installed capacity of 1,050 megawatts.
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Project financing will be structured as 70% debt and 30% equity, said Caleb Dengu, chief executive officer of Green Hybrid Power Ltd., which is helping its development. He said the debt would carry a 10-year tenure.
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“We hope to complete the study by December 2025 and close by March and start construction in the second quarter of 2026,” he said via telephone from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, where he and Cross were attending the annual general meeting of the Afreximbank.
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—With assistance from Desmond Kumbuka.
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https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/zimbabwes-floating-solar-project-seeks-350-million-in-financing
