Cassava Technologies’ solar subsidiary, Distributed Power Africa (DPA) is set to build a 2.5MW solar installation after agreeing on a 25-year lease with Varun Beverages.
The solar plant will be situated at Varun’s Pepsi Bottling factory in Harare and will reportedly produce 4.1GW of electricity annually, dotzedw reported citing Vijay Bahl, Chief Executive Officer of Varun Beverages Zimbabwe. Bahl said:
We are pleased to partner with DPA on this milestone project. Implementing this solar-powered solution will effectively reduce our energy costs, enable us to manage consistent power supply and further pass the benefit of affordable Pepsi Products to Zimbabwe consumers. We are expecting a saving of approximately 2,500 tons of carbon emissions annually.
The deal follows an agreement with Kenya’s Devki Group to install a 4.1MW solar installation earlier this month.
The Cassava Technologies firm is pushing for energy independence on the continent to combat the shortfall by power utilities to meet demand.
The deal comes when the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), the local power utility, has for years been failing to supply enough electricity.
Over the years, the government has also awarded several licences to independent power producers (IPPs) to complement ZESA’s power generation, but very few have taken off and those that are producing electricity are struggling.