East Africa’s ‘biggest’ solar plant enters operation

A solar plant claimed to be the largest in East Africa has entered operation. The 10MW Soroti Solar Power Station in Uganda is made up of 32,680 panels and is […]

A solar plant claimed to be the largest in East Africa has entered operation.

The 10MW Soroti Solar Power Station in Uganda is made up of 32,680 panels and is the country’s first grid-connected facility of its kind. It is owned by Access Power and has cost around $19 million (£15m).

It will provide roughly 40,000 homes with clean energy – it is thought these will be the households nearest to the plant to minimise losses through transmission.

The project was developed under the Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariff, a support scheme which aims to make Eastern African renewables more accessible by keeping costs down.

The scheme is managed by Germany’s KfW Development Bank in partnership with Uganda’s Electricity Regulatory Agency (ERA) and funded by the governments of Norway, Germany, the UK and the EU.

Kristian Schmidt, European Union Head of Delegation to Uganda said: “Uganda is a good place to invest in solar energy. The regulatory framework is conducive and Government rightly recognises Uganda’s energy future must be renewable.

“It is great that this is now triggering private sector interest in solar power generation. The European Union is proud that our grant contribution ensures the realisation of the Soroti Solar Plant and I hope this is only just the beginning for many more to come.”

Latest Podcast