Copperbelt Energy commissions 136 MW Itimpi II solar plant in Zambia

Zambia’s power generation, transmission, distribution, and supply company Copperbelt Energy has brought online the 136 MW Itimpi II solar PV power plant located in Kitwe (Zambia), raising its cumulative solar capacity from 94 MW to 230 MW (Copperbelt Energy press release, 02/05/2026). Constructed over a period of 14 months at a cost of USD126m, the facility has become Zambia’s largest operational solar installation and ranks as the third largest in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the company’s press release. The company indicated that the project is expected to avoid roughly 101 MtCO₂/year in emissions and intends to have more than 500 MW of solar generation capacity by 2027.

This development follows a series of recent renewable energy announcements in April 2026:

• A 50 MW solar power plant was recently commissioned in Mansa District, Luapula Province (KEI, 30/04/2026).
• The African IPP Globeleq has initiated construction of the Leopards Hill Solar and Battery Project in Chongwe district, combining a 250 MW solar facility with a 150 MW/600 MWh BESS (KEI, 23/07/2026).
• The government issued a call for proposals for solar PV projects with a total capacity of up to 300 MW (KEI, 07/04/2026).
• A power purchase agreement (PPA) was concluded between China’s DZGM Energy Resources and the state-owned utility Zesco for a 100 MW hybrid wind and solar project (KEI, 02/04/2026).

These successive announcements highlight the Zambian government’s ambition to accelerate the energy transition, targeting 10 GW of installed capacity by 2030.

According to Enerdata’s Global Energy & CO₂ Data, Zambia’s total installed capacity stood at nearly 1.2 GW at the end of 2024, with solar accounting for close to 17%. The country’s power mix remains largely dominated by hydropower, which represented almost 80% in 2024.