Mailo Solar Zambia's first 25MWp phase has entered commercial operation and started trading power on the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP). This marks a significant shift towards merchant renewable generation in Southern Africa. The Mailo Solar Plant, developed by Solarcentury Africa and backed by BB Energy, completed its first phase and began trading on SAPP. The project is located in Zambia's Central Province.
The Mailo Solar Plant was developed, financed, and built in under twelve months, showcasing the speed of merchant structures. It is the first dedicated merchant solar power plant to trade power through SAPP, selling electricity directly to large industrial customers and regional traders. This approach slots into Zambia's emerging open-access and regional trading framework, allowing private generators to access domestic industrial demand and the wider SAPP market.
The merchant model used at Mailo offers a replicable structure for cross-border solar trading in Southern Africa. This shift from sovereign-backed tariffs to market-based pricing is backed by regional grid integration. Zambia is accelerating solar deployment to diversify away from hydropower volatility. The country's installed solar PV capacity is expected to rise from 88MW in 2021 to about 841MW by mid-2026.
The Mailo plant's first phase is expected to generate over 60GWh of clean electricity annually, enough to power around 25,000 Zambian homes. The developer estimates annual emissions reductions of about 60,000 tonnes of CO₂, or more than 2 million tonnes over the project's lifetime. This positions Mailo as a modest but material contributor to Zambia's decarbonisation and energy-security agenda.
Solarcentury Africa plans to expand Mailo in phases towards a total capacity of 118MWp. Construction of the first phase was undertaken by Alensy Energy Solutions of Namibia, highlighting regional engineering participation in Zambia's solar build. The company has secured an initial US$40m loan from Standard Bank South Africa to support the project.
The Mailo project is part of a broader national build-out and an outlier in its merchant, SAPP-linked structure. A second phase at the site is planned, and construction has started, taking the site from 25MWp towards around 60MWp. A third phase is envisaged to complete the full 118MWp build-out.
The commissioning of Mailo Solar Zambia's first phase comes as Zambia accelerates solar deployment to diversify its energy mix. The project's success could pave the way for similar merchant solar projects in the region, contributing to a more diversified and sustainable energy landscape in Southern Africa.
Key points
- Mailo Solar Zambia's 25MWp phase starts commercial operation, trading power on SAPP.
- The project is the first dedicated merchant solar power plant to trade power through SAPP.
- Mailo is expected to generate over 60GWh of clean electricity annually, powering around 25,000 Zambian homes.
