Construction World December 2022

CONSULTING ENGINEERS

AfriSam Innovat ion Award for Sustainable Construct ion

GOLOMOTI SOLAR PV AND BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE PROJECT, MALAWI

T he Golomot i solar PV plant i s the fi rst wi th a Batter y Energy Storage System (BESS) in Malawi . Golomot i Solar i s being co-developed by JCM Power, a Canadian independent power producer ( IPP) and Inf raCo, an investment company of the Private Inf rastructure Development Group (PIDG) , wi th JCM Power managing the execut ion of the works . Golomot i was Zutari ’s fi rst EPCM appointment in solar PV. The solar power plant entered the commercial operat ion phase in early 2022. The project ’s success was poss ible due to several partners , including USAID providing cri t ical development funding, Innovate UK’s Energy Catalyst programme providing grant funding for the batteries and IFU providing JCM wi th debt funding. Malawi i s one of the poorest countries in the world, where only about 10% of i ts populat ion has access to electrici ty. Completed in 2021, Golomot i i s a 28,5 MWp solar PV and BESS project . The solar plant i s coupled wi th a 5 MW/10 MWh batter y storage system and wi l l provide the Malawian power grid wi th 20 MW of much needed power. In early 2022, the project entered the commercial operat ion phase. Co-developed by JCM Power, a Canadian independent power producer ( IPP) and Inf raCo Af rica, the project i s the fi rst ut i l i ty-scale grid-connected hybrid solar and batter y energy storage system in sub-Saharan Af rica. Zutari was the Engineer for the project and was extens ively involved throughout s i te ident i ficat ion, concept development , tender development / procurement , prel iminar y des ign and detai led des ign through to project execut ion. In addi t ion to the complex ground condi t ions of the Golomot i s i te, des igning the PV array was compl icated

by the need to preser ve a large, majest ic Baobab tree. Instrumental in des igning solut ions for these chal lenges was the appl icat ion of Zutari ’s 3D model l ing and the company’s latest computat ional des ign tool , 7SecondSolar. Developed in-house, the tool al lowed opt imi sat ion and des ign to be carried out ef ficient ly, resul t ing in savings in both cost and t ime. The Malawi PV project showcases the future of project del iver y where digi tal tools enable high per formance, resul t ing in technical excel lence. Golomot i marks a s igni ficant mi lestone for the region as energy storage provides an important tool for integrat ing increas ing amounts of renewable energy into a ut i l i ty’s networks . By including the BESS, the project reduces variat ion in output during cloud cover, supports control l ing vol tage and f requency of the grid and di spatches energy in the evening peak . The ground condi t ions on-s i te were complex and changed wi th the seasons f rom hard ground to sof t sludge. The team appl ied an innovat ive approach to test ing the foundat ions and ground remotely due

PROJECT INFORMATION

• Client: JCM Solar Corporation Limited • End date: December 2021 • Main Contractor: HEJ Engineering

• Consulting Engineer: Zutari • Geotechnical: Geoconsult

60 21 st Best Project Awards 2022