Northern Africa

The private-sector arm of the World Bank, which claims to leverage $3 of its own capital and $8 from third parties for every dollar invested in its blended finance funds, has attempted to quantify what devoting Covid recovery funds to green investment would mean for emerging economies.

Researchers led by Oxford University have put together a comprehensive forecast of energy developments across the African continent up to 2030. Based on analysis of data on more than 3,000 power plant projects across 54 countries, the report predicts a doubling of generation capacity in Africa over the next decade, with fossil fuel projects to represent 60% of the total. Based on this, the authors warn of the need for both the public and private sectors to change to tack to avoid a missed opportunity for renewable energy.

Bidders who have been pre-qualified to compete in a tender opened a year ago will now advance to the second phase of the procurement exercise.

UAE-based AlNowais Investments Company has been allowed to increase the size of its solar project in Kom Ombo from 200 to 500 MW. The facility will sell power to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) under a long-term, bilateral PPA.

Solarizegypt will receive payments from Coca Cola for a 1 MW array it has installed on an industrial facility in Sadat City under the nation’s net metering regime.

Half of the EGP1.6 billion charge will be paid up front with the balance staggered over five years, pv magazine has learned.

The latest edition of the accountant’s renewables attractiveness index has placed the nation in top spot for photovoltaics, helping it to fourth spot for overall clean energy investment. Mexico has been hammered by the government’s attitude to clean power and France has also slipped, four places.

Researchers in Egypt have tested a new solar module cleaning technique for solar arrays in arid regions. They claim that the combination of nano-coatings with vibration mechanisms on the backs of modules can reduce manual cleaning requirements.

With the International Energy Agency publishing its latest five-year clean energy forecast today, pv magazine takes a look at the solar content of the 162-page document.

The 24-day, digital 2020 Africa Energy Forum kicked off on October 20. The event brings together African energy sector officials to identify opportunities, air their views, form partnerships, and take the necessary steps to improve the industry. For solar, challenges in policy making, procurement processes and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic were discussed, as well as emerging trends such as solar digitalization.