Kibo Energy, the renewable energy-focused development company, signed a share purchase agreement to acquire the 100 MW Victoria Falls Solar Project in Zimbabwe from Broomfield International. Kibo will acquire 100% of the issued share capital of Brownhill International and shareholder loan claims against Brownhill, which holds the project through its wholly-owned subsidiary Power Ventures.
The Transaction will be for a consideration of £10 million (~$13.2 million) payable in new ordinary shares of Kibo at an issue price of 5p per share, following an intended 1 for 10 share consolidation as part of the Transaction (equivalent to 0.5p pre-consolidation).
The project is in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The first 25 MW of the project is fully funded and currently under construction, with the first 5 MW of the 25 MW is expected to be in production by the end of April 2022.
The project will be connected to the Hwangwe-Victoria Falls national transmission line through a simple loop-in loop-out connection and positioned less than a kilometer from the solar park. The project rollout is being carried out in phases of 25 MW, starting with 5 MW being connected to the grid in April 2022 and 20 MW before December 2022.
All necessary permits for the project are in place and underpinned by long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) for 10-year terms. The PPA’s are all USD-denominated and with mining and industrial customers.
The demand and need for fully renewable power in Zimbabwe are now recognized as a national priority backed up by Zimbabwean government policy directed at infrastructure investment.
In 2021 more than 69 GW solar projects were acquired compared to 40 GW in 2020, according to Mercom’s annual solar funding and M&A report.
