The African Development Bank has approved $49.92 million in financing to construct a 30-megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Dekemhare in Eritrea.
The African Development Fund grant will finance the construction of a 30-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant, which includes a 15-megawatt battery-energy storage system. The project is expected to increase generation capacity to 185 megawatts-hours and grid energy to 365 gigawatt-hours per year.
Part of the grant also will be allocated to technical assistance and capacity building to improve the operational performance of the grid.
The project will be instrumental in reducing the power deficit, reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and reducing the cost of electricity generation and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. It also will increase the share of renewable energy in the grid’s energy mix from 3 percent to 23 percent.
Eritrea experiences inadequate, unreliable, expensive and polluting electri