Scatec completes hybrid solar plant in South Sudan

5th June 2020 By: Marleny Arnoldi - Deputy Editor Online

Independent solar power producer Scatec Solar has commissioned a combined solar and battery storage plant, in Malakal, South Sudan.

The plant will power the Humanitarian Hub, which is managed by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Scatec says the plant, which it developed in partnership with Kube Energy, will reduce the hub’s diesel consumption by at least 80%.

This plant marks Scatec’s second hybrid project for a United Nations (UN) organisation, with a third project due to start in the next few weeks.

The plant, with a solar photovoltaic capacity of 700 kW, combined with a 1 368 kWH battery energy storage system, is connected to existing diesel generators.

The delivery of solar power will represent 80% of the energy consumed at the hub, greatly reducing the need for diesel and providing significant reductions in both carbon dioxide emissions and energy costs.

“This is a key step in meeting UN targets on abatement of greenhouse-gas emissions. Another obvious benefit is the silence already noticed by people at the hub now that the generators are turned off most of the time.

“Investing in renewable energy is investing in a sustainable future and the launch of this innovative project will undoubtedly help us path a way towards the use of more renewable energy systems within the humanitarian sector,” says IOM South Sudan chief of mission Jean-Philippe Chauzy.