By Kei Emmanuel Duku<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ministry of Environment and Forestry welcomes the launch of a 20-megawatt solar power plant and 14-megawatt-hour battery system in Juba.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Joseph Africano Bartel, Undersecretary of the ministry, calls for increased investment in clean energy to reduce the country’s carbon footprint and combat climate change.<\/p>\n The solar power plant, located in Gondokoro, Mangalla Payam, will be managed by Ezra Construction and Development Group Limited (ECDG).<\/p>\n Africano noted that the project, initiated in 2017, followed an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment. He explained that the 33-megawatt thermal power generated from diesel engines will serve as a backup during the rainy season and in case of solar system failures.<\/p>\n He said to minimize diesel emissions, the contracted company was directed to install catalytic converters that reduces the amount of carbon emitted by generators.<\/p>\n “Our ministry aims to generate 3000 megawatts of power from clean sources like hydro, solar, geothermal, wind, and natural gas,” Africano said. “Juba currently requires at least 100 to 150 megawatts, and we need more investors in the energy sector.”<\/p>\n With the addition of the 20-megawatt solar plant and the remaining 43 megawatts under development, Africano said South Sudan aims to become a regional leader in clean energy.<\/p>\n Africano emphasized that the solar plant will boost agriculture through irrigation and provide cold storage for fish and other produce. The government also plans to construct another 20-30 megawatt solar plant north of Nesitu, North of Rajaf Payam, to improve electricity supply within the city.<\/p>\n According to the Undersecretary, The ministry aims to phase out the use of generators due to their environmental impact.<\/p>\n “We plan to propel our industries through clean energy, which means phasing out fossil fuels in the near future,” Africano added.<\/p>\n The launch of the solar projects is expected to lower electricity costs for consumers.<\/p>\n Natanel Ghebrengu Ezra, Operations Officer at ECDG, stated that the project aims to reduce costs by establishing a modular refinery and transport facilities to refine crude oil locally in Juba, thereby reducing the cost of importing refined fuel.<\/p>\n Sultan Lam Tungwar Kueigwong, Undersecretary in the Ministry of Energy and Dams, acknowledged the increasing demand for electricity in Juba, exceeding the current 33-megawatt capacity supplied by South Sudan Electricity Cooperation and Juba Electricity Company (JEDCO).<\/p>\n Despite abundant energy resources, including fossil fuels and significant hydroelectric potential, South Sudan faces challenges in electricity access. Currently, only 7.7% of the population has access to electricity, the lowest in the region, according to the World Bank’s 2021 Energy Progress Report.<\/p>\n The majority of the population relies on kerosene, firewood, sunlight, and personal diesel generators for energy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Kei Emmanuel Duku Ministry of Environment and Forestry welcomes the launch of a 20-megawatt solar power plant and 14-megawatt-hour battery system in Juba. Joseph Africano Bartel, Undersecretary of the ministry, calls for increased investment in clean energy to reduce the country’s carbon footprint and combat climate change. The[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":32674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/A-newly-20-Megawatts-Solar-PV-Plant-and-14-Hour-Battery-Systems-is-expected-to-boost-power-within-Juba-City.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32672"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32673,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32672\/revisions\/32673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe initial agreement was to generate 100 megawatts of power, with 33 megawatts from fossil fuels and 67 megawatts from clean energy sources.<\/p>\n