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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