Qair reaches first disbursement on €37.9m financing for Chad's first utility-scale hybrid solar plants

Independent renewable energy company Qair has announced the first disbursement of a €37.9 million financing package for the construction of hybrid solar power plants with battery storage, totaling 30 MWp and 8 MWh, located in Gassi and Lamadji, Chad — among the first utility-scale solar-plus-storage projects in the country.

The projects were developed under a framework agreement with the Republic of Chad, paired with a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Tchadelec, the national electricity utility. First disbursement was announced on 25 September 2026.

A textbook blended-finance structure for frontier markets

The financial structure is a case study in how frontier-market hybrid projects are made bankable:

• African Development Bank (AfDB) and Proparco each provided €15.2 million in loans;
• The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), managed by the AfDB, contributed €6 million in reimbursable grants;
• Proparco / Agence Française de Développement added €1.5 million in supplementary funding;
• A €8 million Partial Risk Guarantee (PRG), issued by the African Development Fund and the Green Climate Fund, backs a letter of credit from Coris Bank covering Tchadelec's PPA payment obligations;
• Coris Bank serves as onshore account bank and local security agent, while BNY acts as offshore account bank, offshore security agent and intercreditor agent.

For equipment suppliers and integrators, projects of this type illustrate where the next wave of African demand is forming: small-capacity hybrid plants in markets with almost no existing generation infrastructure, financed through DFI-blended structures, with PPAs anchored on national utilities. The English-language media coverage of such markets remains close to zero — a persistent information gap for anyone tracking where procurement actually happens.

"This financing demonstrates the strong confidence and collaboration between Qair, AfDB, Proparco, and SEFA in delivering impactful renewable energy infrastructure," said Abdoulaye Touré, CFO of Qair Africa.