In a transformative milestone for Southern Africa’s energy landscape, the official commissioning of Zambia’s first solar-hydro hybrid power plant marks a critical shift toward climate-resilient infrastructure. The project seamlessly integrates a new 27 MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) plant with the historic 24 MW Lunsemfwa hydropower station in the Kapiri Mposhi District of Zambia's Central Province.
Developed through a strategic partnership between independent power producer Globeleq, the Lunsemfwa Hydro Power Company (LHPC), and the Zambian Ministry of Energy, the hybrid facility offers a blueprint for mitigating the severe climate vulnerabilities threatening the regional power grid.
The primary objective of the hybrid facility is to address the impact of droughts, which have historically crippled Zambia's hydro-dependent grid. By linking solar and hydro assets into a single operational system, the facility introduces a highly efficient balancing mechanism:
- Daytime solar: During peak daylight hours, the 27 MWp solar array generates the bulk of the facility's electricity output.
- Water conservation: While the solar panels power the grid, water in the LHPC reservoirs is actively conserved rather than passed through the turbines.
- Evening peak dispatch: The stored water is then strategically released during evening peak hours when solar generation drops to zero, ensuring uninterrupted baseload supply.
- Grid stabilisation: The combined system minimizes voltage fluctuations and reduces the country's reliance on emergency power imports.
For modern energy developers across Africa, the Lunsemfwa hybrid project demonstrates how existing, aging run-of-river and reservoir assets can be retrofitted to combat climate change. Rather than building entirely new dams adding utility-scale solar next to existing hydro infrastructure maximises existing grid connections and minimises environmental disruption.
Zambia's Ministry of Energy has highlighted the project as a cornerstone of its national strategy to diversify the country's energy mix away from its traditional 80%+ dependence on standalone hydropower.