Surat-based Navitas Solar has signed its first utility-scale EPC contract on the African continent, marking the latest move by an Indian renewable energy manufacturer to chase growth beyond its home market.
The company’s EPC arm, Navitas Planet, will develop a 54 MW captive solar power project in Zambia’s Serenje Province, built to supply electricity to a mining operation and valued at close to ₹200 crore (roughly $23 million).
The project is scheduled for commissioning in the third quarter of India’s FY27 (broadly April to June 2027) and represents Navitas Solar’s first utility-scale execution assignment in Africa, following a smaller 0.5 MW project the company completed in Latin America last year.
Inside the Zambia Deal
Navitas will supply its own N-type TOPCon bifacial modules for the Serenje plant, while inverters and other balance-of-system equipment will come from an established Chinese manufacturer with existing service centres in the region — a pragmatic move that pairs Indian-made panels with locally serviceable power electronics.
The company has said it intends to source close to half of the project’s total equipment from India.
“…it should set the ball rolling for a lot more opportunities in the region,” — Vijay Menon, Chief Operating Officer, Navitas Solar
Menon, who leads operations at Navitas Solar, described the Zambia contract as the mining-linked power deal that could open the door to further work across the region, according to a company statement carried by businessline.
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Surat, Gujarat, Navitas Solar has grown its module manufacturing capacity to roughly 3 GW per annum and counts itself among India’s top ten solar module producers.
The company has spoken publicly for several years about ambitions to expand into the United States, Europe and Africa, alongside its core Indian business.
Part of a Broader Indian Push into African Solar
Navitas Solar’s entry adds to a small but growing list of Indian renewable energy firms building an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) presence on a continent long dominated by Chinese contractors and equipment suppliers.
Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy secured a roughly ₹1,313-crore, 240 MW AC solar EPC order in South Africa last year and now has four utility-scale projects under execution in the country.
Jakson Green has completed a 50 MWp solar EPC project in West Africa and is currently implementing a 24 MWp solar-plus-storage project in the same region.
Industry analysts see the trend continuing. Dastur Energy, a global energy engineering and advisory firm, has pointed to Africa’s combination of abundant solar resources, rising electricity demand and a persistent power access gap as reasons the continent could become one of the most significant overseas markets for Indian renewable developers.
Its assessment is that success will depend on more than competitive EPC pricing alone — companies will need strong engineering capability, local partnerships, storage integration, long-term operations and maintenance expertise, and a clear read on country-specific risk, since Indian firms are unlikely to out-compete Chinese rivals purely on manufacturing scale or financing terms.
Markets flagged as offering distinct opportunities include South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia and Ethiopia, spanning utility-scale solar, mining-linked captive power, industrial energy systems and battery storage.
Payment security, utility balance sheets, currency volatility and regulatory stability remain among the biggest risks for developers entering these markets, according to sector advisors.
Why the Timing Matters
Navitas Solar’s move lands as Africa’s solar sector posts its strongest growth on record. According to the Global Solar Council’s latest market outlook, the continent added 54% more solar capacity in 2025 than in 2024 — the highest annual deployment ever recorded on the continent, with South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt leading additions.
The African Solar Industry Association’s 2026 outlook similarly found Africa recording the fastest year-on-year solar growth of any global region last year, alongside China and the Middle East.
Mining-linked captive power, the category the Zambia project falls into, is one of the fastest-growing segments of that expansion.
Miners across the continent are increasingly signing power purchase agreements to hedge against diesel price volatility and meet emissions targets, a trend industry researchers expect to keep outpacing broader utility-scale solar growth through the rest of the decade.
Even so, the continent remains capital-constrained relative to its potential: Africa holds an estimated 60% of the world’s best solar resources yet still receives only a small fraction of global energy investment, with capital costs for solar projects running several times higher than in developed markets.
That gap is precisely where mining-linked, corporate-backed projects like the Serenje plant — financed around a single offtaker’s power needs rather than dependent on public grid finance — have found early traction.
What to Watch
For Navitas Solar, the Serenje project is a test case: whether an Indian panel manufacturer with limited prior EPC experience outside India can execute reliably in a frontier market and convert one mining contract into a broader African order book.
For the continent’s construction and energy sectors, it is one more sign that the contractors building Africa’s power infrastructure are diversifying beyond the Chinese firms that have historically dominated the space — a shift that could eventually widen the field of financing options, equipment sources and project partners available to African utilities, mines and industrial power users.
CCE News will continue tracking Navitas Solar’s African order book, along with the wider build-out of mining-linked captive solar capacity across Zambia, South Africa and the broader SADC region.
Also Read
- The Future of Solar Energy in Africa:Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities Through 2035
- South Africa Clears Four REIPPPP Solar Projects for Construction
- What Indian Solar Firms Need to Know Before Entering Africa’s Market - July 15, 2026
- India’s Navitas Solar Enters Africa: What the Indian Manufacturer’s Expansion Means - July 15, 2026
- Werner Pumps Expands Namibia Distribution Network as Southern Africa Invests in Water and Wastewater Infrastructure - July 15, 2026
