Solar, Tech & Power Generation

Three Zambia solar plants totalling 320MW are due before the year ends

23rd October, 2026

Zambia’s Ministry of Energy expects to commission 320MW of solar before the end of 2026, the largest share from a 120MW plant in Mumbwa. Bob Sianjalika, its Principal Public Relations Officer, told ZANIS that applications from independent power producers are still arriving, some with ZESCO power purchase agreements signed.

At Musekela, in Chief Chinyaku’s chiefdom in Eastern Province, ZESCO broke ground on the 100MW Chipata West solar plant on 16 August 2025, giving itself 12 months to build it. It is one of three Zambia solar plants, 320MW between them, that the Ministry of Energy expects to commission before the end of this year.

Zambia’s installed solar reached 1,027MW this month, up from 178MW in 2024, by the government’s count. Total installed generation stands at 4,722MW against a national target of 10,000MW by 2031.

Shimabala, in Chilanga District on the road south from Lusaka to Livingstone, is the site of another 100MW plant on the list. The ministry did not name its developer when it set out the programme.

Mumbwa District in Central Province hosts the largest of the three, a 120MW plant. ZAHU Energy Solutions broke ground in the same district in November 2025 on a separate US$245m, 200MW plant with battery storage in Chief Moono’s chiefdom. The Zambia Development Agency’s Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with Sunshare Energy, announced in May, covers a US$246m, 250MW second phase of the Nambala solar plant in Mumbwa, whose first phase is 100MW.

“We will be commissioning one in Shimabala generating 100 megawatts, one in Chipata generating 100 and the other one in Mumbwa with 120 megawatts,” Sianjalika told ZANIS. He said the number of independent power producers and traders has grown and that applications are still coming in, some from producers that already hold power purchase agreements with ZESCO.

When ground was broken at Musekela last year, Chief Chinyaku said he was excited that the development “has been extended to our chiefdom not just in town”.

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