Members’ area

NextGen Solawazi

Period

2017

Country

Tanzania

Sector

Renewable energy

Financial facility

ElectriFI

ElectriFI’s development finance loan of 64,000 to NextGen Solawazi aims to support the development, construction, and operations of a 5MW solar photovoltaic power plant as an Independent Power Producer under the Tanzanian governmental strategy.

Project overview

EDFI ElectriFI committed +USD 64 000 to support NextGen Solawazi development, construction, and operations of a 5MW solar photovoltaic power plant as an Independent Power Producer under the Small Power Producer Program in Tanzania.

NextGen Solawazi is a Tanzanian organization focused on building and operating several large scale solar PV power plants connected to mini- and main grids in remote and rural Tanzania.

The company is also committed to scaling up the model across several Sub-Saharan African and small island nations. By providing clean, reliable and more affordable electricity in those areas, NextGen Solawazi aims to boost local activity to help reduce poverty and accelerate development in remote and rural areas. The company’s solar power plants are based on a hybrid model integrating modern PV generation with existing legacy diesel plants. The project is (one of) the first solar PV utilities supplying power to an isolated grid at this scale in the region and its success will be an accelerator to future replication of this type of projects in the region.

Investment Rationale

This is the first time this type of detailed technical study is being conducted for a legacy diesel–modern PV solar plant connected to an isolated mini-grid. The study report can also be used as a reference or basis for other similar studies in the near future.

Funding objective

The funding will support NextGen Solawazi development, construction, and operations of a 5MW
solar photovoltaic power plant as an Independent Power Producer under the Small Power
Producer Program in Tanzania. The solar plant will be connected to the isolated mini-grid of
Kigoma region to support the strategic rural electrification efforts of the Government of Tanzania
under the SE4ALL initiative of the United Nations and the EU. It will replace and complement diesel
generators, having a great positive impact on the environment and on the cost price to the national
power utility of Tanzania. ElectriFI will provide USD 64,015 in development financing to upgrade
the engineering assessment and grid load study that seeks to verify the technical viability of the
project.

Key Indicators

Financial Instrument

Development finance loan

Status

exited

Amount

USD 64,000

Year

2017