Development of 80 MW Solar PV in Dodoma, Tanzania

CONTEXT

According to “Tanzania 5 year development plan”, Tanzania has the goal of achieving 2780 MW of installed capacity by 2015.

However, taking into consideration the planned generation, as presented by Tanesco (Tanesco Website on “Project Pipeline”), Tanzania will, not only, be far away from the desired target, but also, register a power short fall from 2012 up to, at least, 2015.

Note that, currently, under the ongoing large emergency program of more than 500 MW, several diesel units are already operating in Tanzania with very expensive costs and more are to come.

Nevertheless, Tanzania has one of the best solar resources in the world and has currently generation units in its portfolio with running costs higher than the cost of solar energy, as previously mentioned.

Furthermore, in the recent years, the Solar Photovoltaic technology has evolved significantly, registering significant cost reductions. Also, the recent auctions promoted by South Africa, for large scale solar power plants, have attracted much interest and competition, allowing for the definition of a publicly available reference price (competitive and efficient) for solar Photovoltaic energy in the region.

Then, the competitive cost of solar and the possibility of substituting expensive diesel in the years to come, with reduced network losses, allow Tanzania to make sound decisions on solar energy with strong potential for value and job creation. Also, the results of South Africa auctions show that Photovoltaic is currently the most efficient solar technology with costs significantly below than those of Concentrated Solar Power.

For last, solar photovoltaic is fast to deploy and has zero CO2 emissions. Also, a move on solar energy would increase Tanzania international credibility and facilitate the continuation of international support to the required investments in Tanzania’s power sector in the years to come.

OBJECTIVES

Provide the client (GoldSol) with a feasibility project to be submitted do the Tanzania  Government seeking the signing of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

DESCRIPTION

The “80 MW Dodoma solar project” was a 5 year implementation project comprising the implementation of 7 solar PV projects and the construction of a local PV panel assembly factory.

SUMMARY OF SERVICES

The services rendered for the “80 MW Dodoma solar project” here:

• Site identification and validation
• Grid Connection study
• Solar resource analysis and generation forecast
• Financial model
• Feasibility study
• Presentation teaser