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Kafue

Solar power plant in Lusaka, Zambia. Approximate location -15.55, 28.35.

SolarLusakaZambia

Kafue is a 48 MW solar power plant in Lusaka, Zambia. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 20,210 homes (estimated). It ranks #7 of 15 Zambia power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, solar supplies about 0.9% of Zambia's electricity; the national grid averages 120 gCO₂/kWh (87.5% low-carbon) (2024).

48MW installed capacity
20,210homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WKS0066036.

Local climate & thermal context

This solar plant converts sunlight directly into electricity with photovoltaic panels. It sits in a humid subtropical (dry winter) climate (Köppen Cwa) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 15.6°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

20.3°Cannual mean temp
142heating degree-days (base 18°C)
977cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
1,221 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 21 °CJF: 21 °CFM: 21 °CMA: 20 °CAM: 18 °CMJ: 16 °CJJ: 16 °CJA: 18 °CAS: 22 °CSO: 24 °CON: 24 °CND: 22 °CD24 °C

Heating degree-days here run 94% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 16/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Solar PV loses ~0.35%/°C above 25°C cell temperature — roughly 0.0% at warm-season highs here (estimate).

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

Zambia has 1 solar power plant in this dataset, together about 48 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates -15.55, 28.35 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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