Cote d'Ivoire

The Economic Community of West African States should prioritize the development of solar PV to meet surging energy demand over the next 30 years, according to a newly published study.

The African country has joined the World Bank’s Scaling Solar Program. Two PV plants will be located in Touba and Laboa, in the northeast of the country.

PEG Africa, a company offering pay-as-you-go solar to consumers and businesses in West Africa has received a $5 million investment from European Union initiative ElectriFi. The company says it has now secured more than $50 million and plans a major expansion.

The solar home system company, which enables customers to pay their solar electricity bill through an app on their mobile on a PAYG basis, has conducted a monumental funding round as it eyes expansion to become a fully-fledged pay-as-you-go utility.

pv magazine caught up with the chief exec of the pay-as-you-go solar home system provider to get his thoughts on the claim mini and microgrid business models don’t stack up and the suggestion government-driven utility scale solar should light the way in the sub-Saharan marketplace.

This time, the countries revealing their first floating PV plans are Albania and the Ivory Cost. In the first, a 12.9 MW plant is being proposed by local hydropower producer KESH, while in the second, the local government has secured funds for what it claims will be Africa’s first floating PV array.

According to the agency, a mimimum of 8 GW of solar will be deployed across the 15 countries that comprise the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) by the end of the next decade. Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire will lead the future growth of PV in the region.

The project is expected to cost approximately 47.2 billion CFA (around $81.5 million), and to have an annual production capacity of 118 GWh.

Funds totaling €36.7 million have been awarded by Germany’s development bank KfW and the European Union. The project is set to be located in Boundiali, in the northern part of the Sub-Saharan country.

Mini-grid solutions are becoming more popular to deliver electricity to rural areas. There are 1 billion people worldwide without access to electricity and off-grid solutions could be the cheapest and easiest solution for about 70% of them. It is estimated the market in the segment will be worth $64 billion by 2030.