The local GEI Power and Turkey’s YEO are pushing forward with the development the US$65 million Cooma photovoltaic (PV) solar plant in the Choma district of southern Zambia.

Preliminary activities such as the feasibility study, the environmental impact assessment and grid impact studies have been conducted, according to a recent update from the energy ministry.

The facility will have an installed generation capacity of 60MW along with a 20MWh battery energy storage system (BESS). Commercial operation is planned for September 2025 and the plant will power at least 65,000 households.

The offtakers will be state utility Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) and a mining firm.

The project will employ 150 locals during the construction phase and around 50 seasonal staff once commissioned.

It will be the first BESS installation in Zambia, and energy minister Francesca Zyambo has revealed the government is keen to set up an assembly plant. “We also want to tap into the engineering and battery storage innovation expertise from Turkey and set up an assembly plant in the country,” she said.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop the Cooma plant was signed between the Ministry of Energy, GEI Power and YEO in December 2023.

GEI Power is also developing the 50MW Kazungula solar plant with BESS in the Choma district, with ZESCO and a mining firm again the offtakers, and two hydrogen projects in Zambia.

The Turnpike Solar-Green Hydrogen Project (TSGHP) in the Chinkankata district of southern Zambia will have a capacity of 20 million tonnes a year of green hydrogen and ammonia and 40MW of solar. It will supply a fertiliser manufacturing plant.

The Sesheke Solar-Green Hydrogen Project (SSGHP) in the western Sesheke district is in the early planning stage and will have an electrolyser capacity of 3.5GW and 50MW of solar. It will produce green hydrogen for the export market.