After six years of planning and construction, the 7.5MW Mubuga Solar Power Plant in Burundi, the first of its kind in the East African country has started commercial operations, which makes it the country’s first substantial energy generation project to go online in over three decades.
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Located near the village of Mubuga in Mubuga district, which is in the eastern province of Gitega, reportedly one of the world’s least-developed states, Mubuga Solar Power Plant will increase Burundi’s production capacity by more than 10%, significantly boosting the supply of the electricity grid and support international efforts to increase funding for renewable energy, especially for the most vulnerable communities around the Globe.
Mubuga Solar Power Plant project team
The Mubuga Solar Power Plant was constructed by Gigawatt Global Coöperatief U.A., a multinational renewable energy company focused on the development and management of utility-scale solar fields in emerging markets.
The project was backed by the UK government with additional support provided directly and indirectly from the Energy and Environment Partnership (EEP), a fund set up by Finland in collaboration with the UK and Austria, and the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO).
BIO is a private company, based in Brussels, Belgium, whose objective is to support a strong private sector in developing and/or emerging countries, to enable them to gain access to growth and sustainable development within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Other key project players
Trinity International LLP, a corporate finance law firm focusing on energy, infrastructure, resources, and industry advised the Gigawatt Global and Inspired Evolution equity teams since 2017 while Voltalia, an international player in the renewable energy sector provided the engineering, procurement, and construction services.
The political risk re-insurance was provided by the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
