FINANCIAL VIABILITY OF A 30MW IN NYABARONGO IISOLAR PLANT

The financial viability of the Nyabarongo II 30MW solar Power Plant using FINPLAN was analyzed by exploring three scenarios to assess the impact on shareholder dividends and NPV and IRR in a solar power plant project. The first scenario involved access electricity prices, indicating that the base price of MW is 199 frw(0.14 USD) [c1] per kWh, which resulted in the highest dividends and the shortest waiting period for shareholders to access their dividends. The second scenario focused on changes in interest rate on which the project is being financed, revealing that all tested productivity increases led to higher shareholding dividends without resulting in a lager time before dividend payments. However, increasing in interest rate and 40%(7USD) above the base level resulted in early dividends and ensured better performance of the project. The third scenario is to assess changes in the operation and maintenance, demonstrating that a decrease in operation and maintenance activities was more profitable in the short term, while an additional level of operation and maintenance leads to low profitability.  The findings from study shows that at any operation and maintenance cost less that than the 3.9 million USD would be profitable and a 10% (4.29 million USD) increase in the operation and maintenance on operation and maintenance will negatively affects as NPV reduce by 40%. A reduction in the price of electricity from the base by 5% of 199 RWF(0.14 USD) [c2]  does not significantly impact on the project's profitability, as (NPV) and (IRR) as these indicator remain positive. On the contrary a decrease beyond this leads to negative profitability, with NPV turning negative and IRR dropping to zero. Finally, it was realized that the interest rate in the country does not have a significant impact on the profitability of the project upon changes in the interest rate. It was recommended to take The strategy in reduction of electricity prices to make it more affordable for consumers while ensuring project profitability , prioritize strategies to minimize O&M costs through the adoption of advanced maintenance technologies, such as predictive maintenance systems which extend the lifespan of equipment, regardless of interest rate changes as NPV and IRR remains strong,  while dividend payments are not significantly affected  which improves the financial viability and profitability of the solar power plant.