The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has approved a loan of up to $99 million to finance Mozambique’s first utility-scale wind-power project.
Alongside this loan, DFC will provide $80 million in political risk insurance to Globeleq Africa, the developer of the 120-megawatt project near
Namaacha in southern Mozambique, according to a statement from the lender on Tuesday. The project will require approximately $268 million in total funding, as noted on the DFC’s website.
Mozambique, a southern African nation with over 33 million residents, predominantly relies on a single hydroelectric dam for its power generation.
The new wind-power plant, located about 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of the capital, Maputo, is expected to reach financial close this year, according to Globeleq.
Globeleq, majority owned by British International Investment Plc, the UK government’s development-finance arm, is expanding its presence in Mozambique.
In addition to the wind project, the company is constructing a 450-megawatt gas-fired power plant in Inhambane province and has already built two solar plants with a combined capacity of 60 megawatts.
