Afripower has started construction of a 40MWp utility-scale solar PV project in Moramanga, Madagascar, expanding its renewable energy activities beyond South Africa. The project will connect to the Antananarivo Interconnected Network and is being developed in phases, with the first 15MWp targeted for completion in 2026.
The solar plant is being developed alongside Afripower’s existing Mandroseza heavy-fuel-oil (HFO) power station, which has been rehabilitated to operate at close to 40MW, up from around 5MW previously. Rather than operating as a standalone solar project, the new plant is designed to complement the thermal facility by supplying solar power during daylight hours while the HFO plant provides firm generation when needed.
The arrangement, described as “virtual hybridisation”, is intended to reduce the amount of expensive HFO generation required during the day. By replacing part of the thermal plant’s output with solar electricity, Afripower expects the project to reduce fuel consumption and generation costs while maintaining the reliability needed on Madagascar’s main demand corridor.
Read Also: Egypt Opens 500 MW Solar Tender Under Build-Own-Operate Model
Power from the project will be supplied to Madagascar’s national utility JIRAMA under a long-term arrangement. The development is therefore aimed not only at adding renewable capacity but also at reducing the country’s exposure to fuel costs and improving the reliability and economics of electricity supply around Antananarivo.
Afripower, part of Groupe Filatex, is developing the project as an independent power producer, with the remaining capacity to be added after the initial 15MWp phase. The Moramanga development represents the company’s main publicly identified utility-scale solar project outside South Africa and highlights a model increasingly relevant to African power markets: using solar to displace costly thermal generation while retaining existing plants to provide reliability and flexibility.
