Zambia solar capacity passes 1,000MW as Kudu’s 200MW finds a buyer

Zambia has reached its 2026 target of 1,000MW of solar, with 1,027MW now installed, the government told the Energy Forum for Africa in Lusaka. At the same forum, Axian signed a power purchase agreement with Africa GreenCo for the 200MW Kudu plant, whose output will be sold across the Southern African Power Pool.

Zambia’s solar capacity now stands at 1,027MW, past the government’s target of 1,000MW for 2026, and total installed generation has risen to 4,722MW from 3,777MW in 2024. Vice President Mutale Nalumango announced the figures at the opening of the Energy Forum for Africa in Lusaka, delivering the address on behalf of President Hakainde Hichilema.

The largest single project to move forward at the forum was the Kudu solar plant, rated at 200MWac or 240MWdc, for which Axian signed a power purchase agreement with Africa GreenCo. GreenCo will buy its output of about 530GWh a year and sell it to utilities, mining companies, agricultural operators and commercial businesses across the Southern African Power Pool.

Standard Bank and its Zambian subsidiary, Stanbic Bank Zambia, are providing financial and advisory support as Kudu moves towards financial close and construction. It will be Axian’s second solar plant in the country after it bought an 85.6% stake last year in the 54.3MWp Bangweulu plant, which Neoen developed as Zambia’s first utility-scale solar project in commercial operation.

Further down the pipeline by size, Globeleq is developing 250MW of solar with a 150MW/600MWh battery, while Copperbelt Energy Corporation’s 136MW Itimpi Phase II came online earlier this year. Nava commissioned a 100MW plant in September, and the government has signed contracts with five contractor groups for 312MW of solar under its constituency programme.

Ember estimated in August that Zambia’s solar installations would grow by 117% this year and Zimbabwe’s by 282%, within a record 17GW across Africa, as Zambia’s government works towards the 10,000MW of generation it is aiming for by 2031.

Speaking as the two countries develop an electricity interconnector between them, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Energy, July Moyo, told the forum that a borderless regional energy system was both possible and necessary.

Images: Ministry of Energy, Zambia