Namibia

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.

Through the tender, the administration of Windhoek wants to build several projects on a build, own, and operate basis.

Canadian mining company Trevali will buy power from a solar plant located near its Rosh Pinah mine under a 15-year power purchase agreement.

Trade bodies the Africa Solar Industry Association and the African Hydrogen Partnership hosted a two-day virtual conference to discuss the role green hydrogen can play in economic growth across the continent–and how it could drive desalination in freshwater-starved coastal countries.

Roof-mounted solar, and even storage systems, provide cheaper power than mains electricity or diesel generation, prompting companies such as Total to install modules at forecourts across the continent.

Abe Cambridge, chief executive and founder of solar cell-level, crowdfunding-based PV leasing business The Sun Exchange has spoken to pv magazine about the company’s project pipeline and its focus on bringing affordable clean power to schools.

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.

With Cape Town-based The Sun Exchange’s cell-level solar leasing model now reportedly serving 19,000 micro investors, linking finance directly to carbon emission tonnage is another route to bringing PV investment to fruition across the continent.

The rise of clean energy and prosumers, net metering and greenhouse gas regulation all figure among the bogeymen as far as national electric companies are concerned.