Tender opens for feasibility study on floating solar in Zambia
The African Development Bank is seeking expressions of interest from consultants to carry out a feasibility study for a floating solar project at a dam in southern Zambia. The deadline for applications is June 15.
The African Development Bank has opened a tender inviting consulting firms to express interest in providing consultancy services for a floating solar project at the Kariba Dam, a hydroelectric power plant in Zambia. The dam is located at the Lake Kariba reservoir on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border.
The chosen consultant will be tasked with feasibility studies for the Kariba site, including the financial and technical viability of the project, technical specifications for grid integration and the development of financing and business models to implement the floating solar array on Lake Kariba.
The Kariba Dam is maintained by the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA), a bilateral organization owned by Zambia and Zimbabwe. According to the tender documents, the consultant will also assess the socioeconomic aspects of the proposed floating solar PV project “to guide ZRA and other local stakeholders in its decision-making process.”
Expressions of interest must be submitted by post no later than June 15.
The tender documents say that the floating solar project will help to develop the full hydropower potential of the Kariba Dam complex, while increasing solar capacity and improving the use of the resulting hydro/solar system.
According to figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Zambia’s total solar deployment stood at 124 MW at the end of 2023, while Zimbabwe had deployed 41 MW of solar by the end of December.
SOURCE:pv-magazine.com
