Sturdee Energy Enters Zambia with 200-MW Wind Buy

South African independent power producer Sturdee Energy has entered the Zambian market by acquiring the 200-megawatt Masaiti Wind Project in the Copperbelt region, marking its fifth market in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Sturdee is acquiring the late-stage project, located in Mpongwe District, from Upepo Holdings LLC through local development company Upepo Energy Zambia.

The buyer will take full ownership once construction begins, and financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

The Masaiti wind farm is planned to connect to one of Zambian utility ZESCO's 330-kilovolt transmission lines near the project site.

The project is moving toward financial close after more than six years of on-site wind measurements collected using two meteorological masts, instruments used to record wind speed and direction over time to assess a site's suitability for a wind farm.

Sturdee plans to pair wind with solar and storage

Sturdee said it intends to combine the wind project with solar power and battery energy storage systems (BESS) to provide a more consistent, round-the-clock renewable electricity supply, an approach aimed at overcoming the intermittency that affects wind and solar power on their own.

The project is expected to sell its electricity through an aggregated offtake structure, with ZESCO as an anchor customer, alongside potential sales through the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), a regional electricity trading platform that allows utilities to buy and sell power across borders, as well as through electricity traders and bilateral contracts.

The acquisition adds to Sturdee's regional portfolio, which currently totals 280 megawatts of renewable energy capacity across the SADC region.