Moyi Power
Moyi Power is a US$140 million greenfield utility in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Moyi Power will supply solar-powered electricity to households and businesses in three cities in northern DRC, Gemena, Bumba and Isiro, with a combined population of 700,000. The cities currently have no grid connection, and struggle to access reliable, affordable and clean power.
Moyi aims to improve access to electricity in three isolated cities in DRC
Moyi Power was born out of the Essor Project. This is a UK government-funded process to improve access to electricity in isolated cities in DRC by building and operating greenfield, hybrid-solar utilities.
A Gridworks-led consortium was selected as the winning bidder for the Essor Project after an international tender process run by the government of the DRC.
The project has generated significant interest from the development finance community because it provides a replicable model with the scale and regulatory underpinning to attract further investment in greenfield utilities across Africa, and to reach many more customers than traditional, small-scale mini grids.
How Moyi Power works
Moyi Power follows a distributed renewable energy model that uses isolated local grids to distribute power to homes and businesses from renewable sources. The company will operate independently of the national grid, under a long-term, private sector concession structure. Moyi Power signed a concession contract for the Project with the Government of DRC on 3 June 2021. Moyi is a word for sun in Lingala, one of the four national languages of DRC, and the main language of the three cities that will be served by the company.
The development and financing process is expected to take at least 12-15 months. At the conclusion of financing and other contractual arrangements, Moyi Power will then begin an 18-month construction period of the power plants and associated distribution networks in each of the three cities following which it will then begin operations to provide power for the twenty-year operating period of the concessions.
The initial investment for the three sites will be at least US$140 million
The Gridworks-led consortium that has created Moyi Power includes Eranove, a multi-utility company that operates power generation plants and utilities in a number of countries including Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon and Togo, and AEE Power, a power developer and construction company with extensive and long-term activities in DRC. The initial investment for the three sites will be at least US$140 million, funded with a mixture of equity from the consortium, debt provided by development finance institutions (DFIs) and capital grants from donors and DFIs.
In numbers...
Dave Anson
GRIDWORKS
“This project has the capacity to transform hundreds of thousands of lives by bringing reliable, affordable electricity to homes and to businesses in northern DRC. By building electricity infrastructure we support local entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and create jobs, we help families get better education and healthcare, and we empower women. In serving these three cities, Moyi Power has the critical mass and regulatory support that is missing from most mini-grid models. It can set an example to the off-grid industry, pushing down costs for consumers and attracting long-term capital from investors.”
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