Multiconsult wins implementation consultant role for GET FiT Zambia

Multiconsult – a Norwegian design and architecture consulting firm – has been selected to be the implementation consultant for Zambia’s GET FiT programme. As part of the government’s Renewable Energy Feed in Tariff Strategy (REFiT), Get FiT involves the potential delivery of small and medium renewable energy projects of around 20 megawatts each.

In light of a major deficit in infrastructure funding across the continent, most countries in Africa are currently working to develop large-scale energy programmes, often with help from the consulting industry. Given the continent’s abundance of sunshine and large reserves of biomass, a number of these projects involve renewable forms of energy generation.

Zambia’s renewable energy strategy – known as REFiT – aims to promote development primarily by removing barriers to private investment in a sector that has traditionally been dominated by the public sector. Under this strategy, the country has launched the GET FiT programme, which lays emphasis on building small and medium plants, ranging from solar energy to biomass to geothermal.

The first phase of the programme involves the development of solar PV capacity amounting to 100 MW. The role of tender agent for this first phase – which is already underway – was awarded earlier to Norway-based construction and design consulting firm Multiconsult. The firm was founded in 1908, and has since offered multidisciplinary consulting & design services for a range of projects across the world. Other services offered by the firm include project engineering & management, verification, inspection, supervision and even architecture. 

Now, Multiconsult has been offered further involvement in GET FiT, having been selected as the implementation consultant for the programme in Zambia. Alongside offering support in the policy and regulatory domains, the firm will also help with tender implementation and supervising the construction process.

In addition, the firm will also operate the GET FiT Secretariat in Zambia for the next three years, which is subject to extension based on project status. Multiconsult has already demonstrated its capabilities in running such projects, having played an identical role in the GET FiT Uganda programme for five years, which generated over $400 million in investments.

Commenting on the project, Ryan Anderson, the team leader for Multiconsult’s operations in Zambia said, “If successful, GET FiT will not only provide up to 200 MW of new generation from small renewables to the people of Zambia, it will leave a lasting impact on the regulatory framework for all future investments in the power sector.”