Image: am.afdb.org
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $50 million framework financing for renewable energy projects in Zambia.
In an effort to address severe electricity shortages, the Zambian government launched the Renewable Energy Feed-in-Tariff (REFiT) strategy in 2017.
REFiT is intended to attract private investment for small-scale renewable projects of up to 20 MW. In a statement released last week, the AfDB said the aim of the framework is to finance 100 MW of renewable energy projects, primarily solar photovoltaic projects, selected under GET FiT, the official implementation program for REFiT.
“This is an innovative financing framework that enables the transition to sustainable energy in Zambia, and an important milestone in our partnership with Green Climate Fund,” said Amadou Hott, Vice President for Power Energy Climate and Green Growth of the African Development Bank.
Zambia is heavily reliant on hydropower and saw critical electricity shortages of 600 MW due to poor rainfall in 2015 and 2016.