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  • Eastern Africa
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Case study 22 December, 2021 Solar PV Mining Grid-connected

CrossBoundary Energy – Installing a hybrid-renewable energy grid to a mine (Madagascar)

Who, What & Where

  • CrossBoundary Energy
  • Installing a hybrid-renewable energy grid to a mine
  • Fort Dauphin, Madagascar

The Company

CrossBoundary Energy Access (CBEA) is a blended finance facility investing project finance into mini-grid portfolios in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Challenge

The current (local) grid is unreliable and is powered by heavy fuel oil (HFO). One of the many challenges faced were contracting and site investigations due to COVID-19 pandemic, restricting travel to Madagascar; construction/permitting of the solar facility within the secondary zone of the aerodrome of an international airport and limited national standards are available to guide aeronautical studies.

Renewable Solution

CrossBoundary Energy’s plant will power the mine only, however, QMM exports up to 30% of its generation into the local grid, administered by the state-owned utility, JIRAMA. Thus, accessibility, reliability and sustainability will be increased for the whole town of Fort Dauphin. The solar PV is to produce 8 MW while the wind turbines are to produce 12 MW. Battery storage system (BESS) is to store up to 8 MW. It will be considered to rely on local contractors and consultants, technology and a strong partnership with CBE’s counterpart and off-taker. International standards were used as the basis to develop a process in collaboration with Aviation Civile de Madagascar.

Project Financing and Costs

The project is to be financed by Crossboundary through equity of EUR 24,152,505.

Project Outcome

  • Environmental emission reduction.
  • Operating cost reduction.
  • Reliability and sustainability.
  • Recourse and defer risk.
  • Focus on core mining activities.