Skip to Content

← Back to all solar projects

Leopards Hill Solar + BESS SADC cross-border

High confidence construction Last researched: 2026-06-26

~35,000 piles to drive (est.)
250 MWdc × 140 piles/MWdc (sadc), ±15%. The JCS500 drives 4 m solar piles (auger + DTH). Not a quote.
Capacity250 MWdc
Storage (BESS)150 MW / 600 MWh
LocationLusaka Province (Chongwe District, Kyindu Ranch), Zambia
(coordinates unverified — dropped on review)
DeveloperGlobeleq (in partnership with Leopard Investment Company) (globeleq.com · LinkedIn)
Owner / equityGlobeleq (owned by British International Investment (UK) and Norfund (Norway)); developed in partnership with Leopard Investment Company, a Zambian agricultural firm that owns the host land (Kyindu Ranch) and the Leopards Hill Substation
EPC / contractornot yet confirmed
OfftakerNot confirmed. ZESCO signed a Grid Connection Agreement (export capacity / grid access) at launch, but no power purchase agreement / offtaker is named. Globeleq framing ("tailored power solutions to major customers... particularly mining") plus Zambia's 2024 Open Access Regulations suggest a private/merchant offtake (wheeling to large consumers) model rather than a single ZESCO PPA — unconfirmed.
Regulatory routePrivate wheeling / merchant under Zambia's 2024 Open Access Regulations (likely); ZESCO Grid Connection Agreement for export capacity signed at launch. No REIPPPP tender involved. Exact offtake route not formally confirmed.
Key datesFinancial close: 2026; Construction start: 2026-04
Soil / geotechSite described as previously-used (brownfield) ranch land; no resettlement required. No specific soil/geotechnical or pile-refusal data found in accessible sources; a full ESIA scoping/impact assessment was approved by ZEMA on 31 July 2025 (the ESIA report itself, which would contain geotech detail, was not accessible). (https://www.zema.org.zm/docs/proposed-construction-and-operation-of-the-leopards-hill-225mwp-solar-pvproject-kyindu-ranch-chongwedistrict-lusaka-province-zambia/)
Sources
Research notes

~25 km SE of Lusaka. USD 315m. Largest Zambian solar-storage project. CORRECTION vs prior claim: 250 MWp solar PLUS 150 MW/600 MWh BESS (not 250 MW solar alone). Construction launched Apr 2026; financial close targeted end-2026 (NOT yet reached). Primary PR source; dropped from final synthesis on budget, not refuted. VERIFIED EXISTS - multiple independent sources (Globeleq official, Energy-Storage.News, Renewables Now, African Energy, ESS-News, ZEMA regulatory filing) corroborate the core facts. Launched 21 Apr 2026 by Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema; described as Zambia's largest hybrid renewable project. USD 315m total investment. ~200-250 construction jobs, ~20 permanent O&M roles. Expected output ~equivalent to 150,000 households/year. CAPACITY CONFLICT (flagged): Launch press releases consistently cite 250 MWp solar; the ZEMA/SLR ESIA regulatory filing cites 225 MWp ("Leopards Hill 225 MWp Solar PV Project, Kyindu Ranch"). Both agree on 150 MW / 600 MWh (4-hour, lithium-ion) BESS. Likely the same project with the press release rounding up (or a modest uprating since the ESIA). mw_dc recorded as 250 (the launch/press figure); note that the permitted/ESIA figure is 225 MWp. All capacity figures are MWp (DC) - NO source gives an explicit AC nameplate, so mw_ac is left null (do not assume 250 AC). Seed DC=250 confirmed; seed AC blank is correct. LOCATION CONFLICT (minor): ESIA says ~12 km east of Lusaka; launch press says ~25 km SE of Lusaka. Both place it at Kyindu Ranch, Chongwe District, Lusaka Province, by the Leopards Hill Substation off Leopards Hill Road (D152). Site ~1007 ha across Farms 1197 (685 ha), 449a (321 ha), 1197/A4 (67 ha). ESIA corner coordinates exist in the document but were not extractable (manuals.plus and africa-energy returned 403; ZEMA doc page not fetched in full). Developer seed ("Globeleq + Leopard Investment Company") CONFIRMED. Status seed "construction" CONFIRMED (construction launched/broke ground Apr 2026). Financial close targeted end-2026. GAPS: EPC contractor not named anywhere; offtaker/PPA not confirmed (only a grid connection agreement); commissioning/COD date not stated (construction est. 18-24 months); precise array coordinates and geotech/soil data not obtained. VERIFY: Adversarial check PASSED on core facts. Existence, capacity, developer, owner, status and key dates independently corroborated by 10+ sources (Globeleq official, PR Newswire, Energy-Storage.News, Renewables Now, Energy Global, ESS-News, Ecofin, Green Building Africa, plus ZEMA + SLR Consulting regulatory). Launched 21 Apr 2026 by President Hichilema; USD ~315m / '>USD 300m'; ~200-250 construction jobs; ~150,000 households equivalent; Globeleq (BII UK + Norfund Norway) with Leopard Investment Company (host land Kyindu Ranch + Leopards Hill Substation) - all confirmed verbatim. PRESERVED CONFLICTS: (1) 250 MWp press vs 225 MWp ESIA - publish 250 as headline but retain 225-permitted caveat; (2) no AC nameplate exists - mw_ac stays null, do not infer; (3) site distance 12 km (ESIA) vs 25 km SE (press). GEO REFUTED: published coordinate (-15.567,28.717) is ~49 km SE of Lusaka, overshooting both the 25 km and 12 km source descriptions and no source gives GPS - drop the precise pin and treat as district-level only (Kyindu Ranch / Leopards Hill Substation, Chongwe). GAPS (flag, don't assert): EPC unknown; offtaker/PPA unconfirmed (only ZESCO Grid Connection Agreement) - 'private wheeling' route is speculative; commissioning/COD date not published. Confidence high on existence+capacity+developer; geo dropped. CONFLICTS: CAPACITY: Launch press releases (Globeleq, Renewables Now, ESS-News, Energy Global) consistently say 250 MWp solar; the ZEMA/SLR ESIA regulatory filing says 225 MWp ('Leopards Hill 225 MWp Solar PV Project, Kyindu Ranch'). Independently confirmed conflict. mw_dc=250 is the press figure; the permitted/ESIA figure is 225 MWp. Both agree on 150 MW / 600 MWh (4h Li-ion) BESS. ; AC NAMEPLATE: No source gives an explicit AC nameplate. mw_ac correctly left null - do NOT infer 250 AC. All published figures are MWp (DC). This is correct, not an error. ; LOCATION DISTANCE: ESIA says ~12 km east of Lusaka; launch press says ~25 km SE of Lusaka - both independently confirmed but mutually inconsistent. Same site (Kyindu Ranch, Chongwe District, off Leopards Hill Rd D152, ~1007 ha across Farms 1197/449a/1197/A4). ; GEO COORDINATE single-source/derived risk: overlay lat/lng -15.567,28.717 computes to ~49 km SE of Lusaka centre - roughly double the 25 km press figure and ~4x the 12 km ESIA figure. It is self-labelled 'approximate / not the precise array centroid' and no source publishes GPS coordinates (manuals.plus/africa-energy 403'd; ZEMA ESIA corner coords not extracted). Coordinate is an unverified estimate that overshoots both source descriptions. ; OFFTAKER unverified: only a ZESCO Grid Connection Agreement (export capacity) confirmed - no PPA/offtaker named in any source. The overlay's 'private wheeling / merchant under 2024 Open Access Regulations' is explicitly speculative ('likely', 'unconfirmed') and not corroborated. ; EPC contractor not named in any accessible source (correctly left empty). ; COMMISSIONING / COD date not stated anywhere (correctly left blank; construction est. 18-24 months is inference).

Bidding or building this site? A 12-week rig import lead-time can sink a programme. Drillbuilders has JCS500 solar piling rigs in stock now in Mokopane — no import wait.

Reserve a JCS500 for the Leopards Hill Solar + BESS programme JCS500 full specs →

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

Chat with us