Mozambique

With pressure mounting on the world’s governments to turn their back on the fossil fuel, China and peers in South East Asia, Europe and South Asia could help deliver a coal-free future at the COP26 climate summit planned in Glasgow in November.

The Africa Solar Industry Association has recorded almost 2 GW of large scale project announcements since the start of last month with 18 countries planning new clean power infrastructure and including energy storage in the plants.

A solar array planned in the Tetereane district of Cuamba has been described by its developer as the nation’s first independent power project to feature utility scale storage.

The five solar-plus-storage facilities will be located in Zambézia and Nampula provinces.

An overview of the state of solar across the continent by trade body the Africa Solar Industry Association has highlighted a patchy policy landscape where clean power ambitions are often not followed through.

Australia’s Syrah Resources has signed a deal with Solarcentury to install 11.2 MW of solar and an 8.5 MW battery storage system at a mine in Mozambique.

A €62m Italo-French program will reduce risk for project developers and a €20m Spanish scheme will fund off-grid installations in sub-Saharan Africa.

French independent power producer Neoen is developing the facility, which will be the Sub-Saharan nation’s largest PV plant upon completion.

The Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy is tendering three solar power projects with capacity of 40 MW each. Mozambican utility Electricidade de Mocambique (EDM) is likely to be the future buyer of the renewable energy generated.

The public body responsible for expanding access to electricity is seeking consultants to prepare a tender for rural PV mini-grids.