Sustainability

While solar, wind and hydro generated 80 TWh more electricity last year than in 2019, coal and oil use fell in every EU member state, and Greek energy emissions fell almost 19%.

The private-sector arm of the World Bank says it will lend up to $150 million to Johannesburg-based Absa Bank for green project funding.

A Carbon Tracker report estimates 60% of the world’s technical solar potential – enough to produce 3.5 exawatt-hours of clean electricity per year – would already be cheaper than fossil fuel if installed. Of the remainder, most would be in sub-Saharan Africa, a region which has the potential to be a global solar and wind powerhouse.

Dutch off-grid solar organization GOGLA has focused on the negative effect of the reimposition of VAT and import duties on solar lighting systems in Kenya as emblematic of the lack of legislative support for clean energy across the continent.

The National Energy Administration has ordered grid companies to supply enough network connection points for all the solar and wind projects registered in 2019 and 2020, and said variable renewables should be supplying 11% of the nation’s electricity by the end of the year.

The International Renewable Energy Agency has combined energy infrastructure commitments across a huge swathe of the continent with hundreds of regional sites which offer rich solar and onshore wind potential, to determine what could be possible.

With investors often put off by a lack of supportive policy for renewables on the continent, the exceptions made to attract money to its economic trade zones might also prove more friendly to clean power infrastructure spending.

The $18bn worth of sustainable finance instruments floated in the nation last year marked a retreat from previous highs but, with most of the bonds issued from July onwards, the recovery is under way, according to the IFC, which is anticipating a more-than-$100 billion sector in emerging markets over the next three years.

The oft-heard industry call for more supportive policy for renewables, this time in Africa, has prompted the European Commission to pledge to work with its continental counterpart on improving the clean energy regulatory environment.

A 90% clean grid with a transition to EVs would achieve lower electricity costs than one without, the study shows. Transmission investments would mainly be spur lines to new renewable generation.