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Cuamba Solar + BESS SADC cross-border

High confidence operational Last researched: 2026-06-26

Sources

• https://globeleq.com/power-plants/cuamba-solar/ (2026-06-26)
• https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/11/02/mozambique-switches-on-19-mw-7-mwh-solar-plus-storage-plant/ (2026-06-26)
• Globeleq — Cuamba Solar + BESS plant page (2023)
• Wikipedia — Cuamba Solar Power Station (SPV, TSK EPC, coordinates, lenders) (2024)
• EAIF — Cuamba financial close (EAIF $19m debt, VGF $7m, BII Plus $1m BESS grant; CET SPV, EDM 15%) (2021-12)
• pv-magazine — 19 MW / 7 MWh solar-plus-storage switched on (2023-11-02)
• Globeleq — commercial operations begin (COD 12 Sep 2023) (2023)

Research notes

Mozambique's first utility-scale solar+storage IPP and Globeleq's first greenfield in Mozambique. US$36m, ~22,000 families. BII/MIGA backed. CONFIRMED EXISTS — Mozambique's first utility-scale solar-plus-storage IPP, in commercial operation since 12 Sep 2023. Core facts corroborated by multiple independent sources (Globeleq, Wikipedia, EAIF/PIDG, pv-magazine, energy-storage.news), no major unresolved conflict — hence high confidence. CAPACITY: Consistently reported as 19 MWp (DC) / 15 MWac. Wikipedia's infobox loosely states "20 megawatts" but every financial-close and project source (Globeleq, EAIF, pv-magazine, SolarQuarter) says 19 MWp DC — I treat 19 MWp/15 MWac as authoritative; the "20 MW" is rounding, not a true conflict. STORAGE: Energy capacity consistently 7 MWh. Power rating less clearly stated: one financial-close summary cites ~2 MW BESS power; Wikipedia garbles it as "1.86 MVA / 7.42 MW/h". I recorded storage.mw=2 (approximate, single-source) and mwh=7 (well-corroborated). Treat the 2 MW as a lower-confidence figure. OWNER/SPV: Owner & operator is the SPV Central Eléctrica de Tetereane SA (CET), majority-owned by Globeleq, with EDM holding 15% of equity (EAIF). Source Energia (appearing as 'Source Capital, Mauritius' on Wikipedia) is the third partner/investor. Seed's 'developer=Globeleq + Source Energia + EDM' is correct as the partner group. EPC: TSK Group (Spain) awarded EPC in May 2021; also contracted for O&M for the first 5 years (Wikipedia). FINANCING: US$36m total. Debt from Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF, PIDG) US$19m; PIDG Viability Gap Funding grant US$7m; BII Plus (British International Investment) US$1m grant toward the BESS. Seed note said 'BII/MIGA backed' — BII involvement confirmed (BII Plus grant), but I found NO source corroborating MIGA involvement; do not assert MIGA without evidence. DATES: Financial close Dec 2021; EPC awarded / groundbreaking 2021; commercial operation date 12 Sep 2023 (Globeleq formal EDM notification). GEO: Site near Tetereane, Cuamba district, Niassa Province (~550 km west of Nacala). Coordinates -14.8003, 36.5061 from Wikipedia only — flagged approximate (single source, not independently verified against imagery). No geotechnical/soil information found in any source. VERIFY: Adversarial check (2026-06): existence, capacity (19 MWp DC / 15 MWac), 7 MWh storage, developer trio (Globeleq + Source Energia + EDM), TSK Group EPC, EDM 25-yr PPA, and COD Sep 2023 all independently corroborated across Globeleq, EAIF/PIDG, Wikipedia, pv-magazine, Engineering News, SolarQuarter, PRNewswire — high confidence. UNRESOLVED SPV-name conflict: EAIF says SPV='Central Eléctrica de Tetereane SA (CET)' with EDM 15%; Wikipedia says SPV='Cuamba Solar Company (CSC)', Globeleq+Source Capital only — overlay follows the more authoritative EAIF version but the owner field mixes sources; do not over-assert. storage.mw=2 kept but LOW confidence (single-source; Wikipedia's '1.86 MVA / 7.42 MW/h' is garbled) — energy 7 MWh is solid. geo coords kept but SINGLE-SOURCE (Wikipedia only), unverified against imagery — treat as approximate. PRIOR-REFUTATION PRESERVED: seed note's 'MIGA backed' could NOT be corroborated (no MIGA evidence found); BII involvement IS confirmed (BII Plus US$1m BESS grant) — do not publish MIGA. No geotechnical/soil data found in any source. CONFLICTS: SPV/owner name conflict: EAIF/PIDG names the SPV 'Central Eléctrica de Tetereane SA (CET)' with EDM holding 15% equity; Wikipedia instead names the SPV 'Cuamba Solar Company (CSC)' with equity holders Globeleq + Source Capital only (EDM not listed). Overlay follows the EAIF version (the primary financing source), which is the more authoritative, but the discrepancy is unresolved and the owner string mixes both. ; storage.mw=2 is single-source and approximate; Wikipedia garbles the BESS power rating as '1.86 MVA / 7.42 MW/h'. The 2 MW power figure is low-confidence (energy 7 MWh is well corroborated). ; Capacity 'rounding' discrepancy: Wikipedia infobox states '20 MW' nameplate, while Globeleq/EAIF/pv-magazine/SolarQuarter consistently report 19 MWp DC / 15 MWac. Treated as rounding, not a true conflict. ; geo coordinates (-14.8003, 36.5061) are SINGLE-SOURCE (Wikipedia only), matching Wikipedia's 14°48'01"S 36°30'22"E exactly but not independently verified against satellite imagery. ; Project cost: an EPC-era source (Wikipedia/groundbreaking) cited US$32m; financial-close and COD sources cite US$36m. Overlay uses $36m (resolved, minor). ; Seed note's 'MIGA backed' claim is UNVERIFIED: no source corroborates MIGA involvement. BII (BII Plus US$1m BESS grant) IS confirmed; MIGA is not. Overlay correctly declines to assert MIGA.

Planning intel compiled from open-source data — not a tender document. Suggest a correction or add missing info →