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The International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced on 20 December that the 47.5MW Bangweulu solar photovoltaic (PV) project has reached financial close. The project sponsors, France’s Neoen and the US’s First Solar, made waves last year when they bid a tariff of only 6.015c/kWh, fixed for 25 years, in the first round of procurement under the Scaling Solar initiative. Zambia’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has taken a stake in project company Bangweulu Power Corporation Ltd, which has now given notice to proceed with construction of the facility.

The Ministry of Energy invites expressions of interest by 12 October from consultants to manage the implementation of the Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariffs (Get FiT) programme. The ministry will act as the project executing agency under a KfW agency contract arrangement for the programme, which was conceived by KfW and Deutsche Bank to support private sector investment in the development of small-scale, on-grid renewable energy projects in emerging markets.

Zesco invites expressions of interest by 13 October for the rehabilitation and extension of the 6MW Chishimba Falls run-of-river hydropower scheme to increase installed capacity to 15MW. Prequalification applications are sought for two separate contracts for the engineering, design and implementation of civil works and electromechanical works for the plant, which is located on the Luombe River in Northern Province. The project is expected to be tendered on a split engineering, procurement and construction contract basis, with separate contracts for the civil works and the electrical and mechanical works.

State power utility Zesco announced in April that it would raise power tariffs for mining companies operating in Zambia to $0.093/kWh backdated to January 2017, replacing individually negotiated rates that have averaged $0.06/kWh. The move has not gone down well with mining companies, which consume 50% of Zambia’s total power output, and on 11 August, Zesco and Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) announced they were “restricting” power supply to mining companies operated by Canada’s First Quantum Minerals (FQM) and Swiss commodities trader Glencore that had refused to pay the new tariff.

Telecoms company MTN is extending its partnership with energy and financial services firm Fenix International to launch pay-to-own solar home systems in Zambia. The Swedish embassy in Lusaka is committing SEK24.75m ($3m) to the project between now and 2020, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is contributing $750,000. Fenix expects to reach 850,000 rural Zambians by 2020 with its ReadyPay Power solar home system, which gives off-grid customers access to affordable solar power.

A combination of drought, national utility Zesco’s balance sheet, and an alarming bill for electricity sector subsidies has persuaded the Zambian government to push ahead with a radical overhaul of its power sector. Pressure from drought is easing gradually. Energy minister David Mabumba told the National Assembly on 28 March that generation from hydropower had improved, in particular at Kafue Gorge, where available capacity had increased from 630MW to 900MW, of an installed 990MW.

Conceived by the German development bank KfW and Deutsche Bank to support private sector investment in the development of small-scale, on-grid renewable energy projects in emerging markets, the Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariffs (Get FiT) programme is set to launch later this year in Zambia, with preparations under way for its future implementation in Mozambique, according to senior project managers at KfW. Get FiT will see the installation of new clean energy capacity while allowing both countries to begin diversifying their generation mixes.

The Energy Regulation Board has approved a tariff increase of 75% for all customer categories except mining and exports. The increase will be implemented in two phases, with an initial 50% effective on 15 May 2017 and a further 25% on 1 September. The government has come under pressure to end subsidies and move to cost-reflective tariffs as Zambia battles a widening fiscal deficit. Zesco requested the tariff increase in March.

The government plans to end its involvement in oil procurement by July this year, energy minister David Mabumba told a forum organised by the ruling Patriotic Front on 7 May. “By June, we will float a tender for the private sector to participate,” said Mabumba. He said the government would get out of oil procurement by July, leaving the sector to private companies.

The Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) has issued general procurement notices for detailed techno-economic feasibility studies for the Kolwezi-Solwezi and Zambia-Mozambique power interconnector projects, to be financed with a grant from the African Development Bank. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (IPPF) approved grants worth $3.88m in March for transmission interconnections between Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, and between Zambia and Mozambique.

Zesco has applied to the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) to raise electricity tariffs by 75% for domestic and non-mining industrial consumers, with an initial 50% increase on 1 May, followed by a further 25% on 1 September. The move aims to reduce power subsidies and thus ease pressure on the Treasury, which is battling a fiscal deficit of over 9% of gross domestic product.

The government plans to advertise at least five oil exploration licences repossessed from companies that failed to meet work programme obligations, according to mines and minerals development permanent secretary Paul Chanda. Currently, Zambia has 12 active exploration licences from the 17 it initially issued to foreign and local firms scouting for oil and gas in Africa’s second biggest copper producer.

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (IPPF) on 6 March approved grants worth $3.88m for transmission interconnections between Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, and between Zambia and Mozambique. The grants will support the completion of feasibility studies and the preparation of tender documents for the construction of the 330-400kV interconnections.

Rehabilitation work on the Kariba Dam is expected to start in May after Zimbabwe and Zambia signed a $294.2m financing deal with the European Union and World Bank in mid February. The project, which is also funded by the Swedish government and African Development Bank (AfDB) through a mix of loans and grants, entails reshaping the dam’s plunge pool and refurbishing the six spillway gates.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced on 21 February that a second mandate for its Scaling Solar programme has been signed with the government. Zambia’s Industrial Development Corporation has already issued a request for expressions of interest (EoIs) for 150MW-250MW projects, with a deadline of 24 March. Submission of an EoI is not compulsory for participation. Prequalification is expected in late March. Between 250MW and 350MW will be procured under a subsequent procurement round, with the IFC’s mandate covering up to 500MW.