Technical and Environmental Feasibility Study on the Implementation of Commercial On-Grid Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Power Plants in Zambia

Climate change has greatly affected Zambia’s hydropower production. This has contributed to reduced amounts of electricity being injected into the utility grid. Zambia has embarked on constructing solar PV mini-grid power plants connected to the national grid for the purpose of reducing the constraint on the hydropower system. Two solar PV power plants were used as a benchmark to investigate the technical feasibility of deploying other solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants in Zambia. The technical performance of the two solar PV power plants was evaluated using PVsyst software. The results were compared with the analysis of the actual data obtained from the two solar PV power plants. Performance ratios (PR) for Ngonye and Bangweulu solar power plants were found to be 83% and 84%, respectively, which are above the internationally acceptable value of 75%. The yearly average daily peak sun hours for both plants were found to be 5 hours 23 minutes. The Capacity Utilization Factor (CUF), was found to be 18.8% and 19.8% respectively. According to Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (ZESCO), the Zambian utility grid can absorb an additional 816 MW of solar PV power, translating into an annual energy production of 1.6 × 106 MWh. The annual production of 150 GWh of energy from the two solar PV power plants would save the environment from pollution by about 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent of greenhouse gases (GHGs) per year as compared to coal power production.