Malawi has sought technical assistance to accelerate its energy transition and to facilitate the government’s procurement of renewable electricity projects. Given the small size of the country's grid, relatively high system losses and its relatively modest electricity demand, the government is interested in exploring the procurement of hybrid or combined solar PV plus battery storage installations, so-called “solar+storage” systems.
Large-scale battery storage can provide a range of benefits to power systems, including systems with rising shares of variable renewables like solar PV and wind power.
This report explores policy solutions and practical pathways for the procurement of solar and storage projects in Malawi. It includes case studies on how other jurisdictions around the world are procuring solar+storage, what kinds of storage technologies are being deployed, an overview of the current costs and recent auction results.