Colleen Bawn Solar Power Station


The Colleen Bawn Solar Power Station is a solar power plant under development in Zimbabwe. The project is owned by Pretoria Portland Cement Limited, who own a cement factory in Colleen Bawn and plan to consume 16 megawatts of the electricity generated and sell the rest to the Zimbabwe national grid.

Location

The power station is located in the town of Colleen Bawn, Gwanda District, in Matabeleland South Province, approximately, by road, east of Gwanda, the location of the provincial and district headquarters. Colleen Bawn is approximately, by road, southeast of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second-largest city. The factory would sit adjacent of PPC's cement factory in Colleen Bawn.

Overview

The power station is designed to have capacity of 32 megawatts. The cement factory is expected to consume 16 megawatts. The remaining output is expected to be sold directly to the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company for integration into the national grid, under a long-term power purchase agreement.

Developers

The power station is being developed by a Zimbabwean power development investor, with technical partners in South Africa. The consortium of developers is expected to be revealed when all funding arrangements have been completed. The developers were selected out of a field of 38 companies that responded to the tender. The developers of the power station will operate it, on behalf of the owners.

Construction

It is expected that once construction starts, it will take eighteen months to complete the power station.