By: Green building Africa

Solarcentury Africa, a subsidiary of the global energy trading group BB Energy, has commenced commercial operation of the 19.3 MWp Gerus solar photovoltaic plant in Namibia. The Gerus project is significant as Namibia's first merchant solar plant to trade electricity directly on the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), a competitive regional power market.

The plant, developed in partnership with Sino Energy, was completed within 12 months and represents the second purpose-built merchant solar facility in Africa, following Solarcentury Africa's earlier 25 MWp Mailo plant in Zambia. The Gerus project was funded by BB Energy through an investment of approximately $20 million, noted as the largest UK investment in Namibia's clean energy sector.

Once fully operational, the Gerus plant is expected to generate around 50.8 GWh of clean electricity annually, sufficient to power more than 14,000 homes and avoid roughly 17,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year. During construction, the project created up to 275 jobs, with over 98% filled by Namibian workers.

Executives highlighted the project's strategic importance. Jason de Carteret, CEO of Solarcentury Africa, stated that the project demonstrates the impact of strong local partnerships in accelerating clean energy access. Mohamed Bassatne, Group CEO of BB Energy, noted that the project aligns with the company's long-term strategy to expand into cleaner energy and power trading, supported by a dedicated trading team established in Geneva in 2025.

Solarcentury Africa aims to develop, own, and operate more than 320 MWp of merchant solar capacity across Southern Africa by 2027.