Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has signed power purchase agreements (PPA) with Canada-based SkyPower Global for its 500MW Green Giant solar project in the country.

The plant will power an estimated 2 million households and is said to be the largest solar project in the history of the country. The PPAs were inked at the World Future Energy Summit that took place in the UAE in mid-April.

At the COP27 climate conference in Egypt in November 2022, SkyPower signed a solar climate action acceleration agreement with the Zimbabwean government for the Green Giant solar project.

Zimbabwe's National Renewable Energy Policy targets installed renewables capacity of 1.1GW by 2025, or 16.5% of the overall electricity supply, and 2.1GW by 2030, or 26.5% of the overall electricity supply.

SkyPower is also undertaking a 1GW solar project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It signed a joint development agreement with the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) for the 200MW first phase of the project in February. SkyPower previously signed a PPA for the project with DRC state-owned utility Societe Nationale d’Electricite (SNEL).

All necessary approvals have been secured and land allocation completed for the first phase, and construction is planned to commence by 2025. The DRC project is expected to contribute an estimated US$2.3 billion to the country's GDP.  The government is looking to increase the population's access to electricity to 32% by 2030, from 19% today.