USTDA Supports Development of Solar Power Plant in Tanzania
April 8, 2014
(USTDA)
Utilizes US-ACEF Resources to Advance Goals of Power Africa
ARLINGTON, VA – Today, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded a grant to
NextGen Solawazi Limited to support the implementation of a 5 megawatt (MW)
solar photovoltaic power plant in Kigoma, Tanzania. The grant was signed by
NextGen Managing Director Mayank Bhargava and USTDA Director Leocadia I. Zak.
USTDA is funding an Owner's Engineer who will provide NextGen with comprehensive
on- and off-site engineering services and oversee the work performed by the
project's engineering, procurement and construction contractor. The Owner's
Engineer will help ensure that the Kigoma plant is technically sound and meets
its performance metrics in a timely, cost-efficient way.
"USTDA is pleased to work with our partners from NextGen Solawazi to support the
development of renewable energy in western Tanzania," said Director Zak. "This
project presents a valuable opportunity to draw upon U.S. technical expertise to
increase energy generation in Kigoma."
NextGen has been licensed by the Tanzanian power utility, TANESCO, to generate
up to 40 MW of solar power throughout the country. During the signing ceremony,
Mr. Bhargava described the goals of the project: "Even in its pilot stages, the
Kigoma plant will have the capacity to power around 50,000 households. It is
expected to generate about 10 gigawatts of clean electricity each year, reducing
greenhouse gas emissions by about 10,500 tons of carbon dioxide annually."
The project advances the goals of Power Africa, a U.S. government-led initiative
to double access to power in sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years. Power
Africa is mobilizing resources from the public and private sectors in both the
U.S. and Africa to add 10,000 MW of cleaner, more efficient electricity
generation capacity across the sub-continent.
The grant funds for this technical assistance come from the U.S.-Africa Clean
Energy Finance (US-ACEF) Initiative. US-ACEF is an innovative collaborative
financing mechanism aligning U.S. government resources from USTDA, the State
Department and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to catalyze private
sector investment to develop Africa's clean energy infrastructure.
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