Image: Manfidza, WikiMedia Commons
The African Development Bank has opened a tender inviting consultancy firms to express interest in providing consultancy services for a floating solar project at the Kariba Dam, a hydroelectric power station in Zambia. The dam is located on the Lake Kariba reservoir on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The selected consultant will be tasked with feasibility studies for the Kariba site, including the financial and technical feasibility of the project, technical specifications for grid integration and the development of financing and business models for the implementation of the floating solar panels 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 documentsthe consultant will also assess the socio-economic 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 15 June.
The tender documents state that the floating solar project will help develop the full hydropower potential of the Kariba Dam complex, while increasing solar capacity and improving the utilization of the resulting hydro/solar system.
According to figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Zambia’s total solar energy deployment stood at 124 MW at the end of 2023, while Zimbabwe had deployed 41 MW of solar energy by the end of December.
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