South Africa

According to a UC Berkeley study, the falling costs of storage technologies will make it possible for Sub-Saharan countries to rely on decentralized systems based mainly on solar-plus-storage, bringing access to electricity to more than 600 million people.

The Accelerating Battery Storage for Development program is intended to leverage US$4 billion in new investments, and to support projects for utility-scale solar parks with battery storage, off-grid systems, including mini-grids, and stand-alone batteries.

Via an agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Italian oil company aims to increase its presence in Africa’s renewable energy markets. It already invests more than half of its budget in the region.

An Africa power sector scorecard shows that solar will make inroads into the African energy sector over the next two years, accounting for 9% of new capacity additions, as renewables uptake across the continent continues to grow.

According to South African research institute CSIR, the southeast African nation may raise its target for rooftop solar to 50,000 installations by 2030. The institute is seeking consultants to define the future solar roadmap for the country.

The U.K. Government says it will make £56 million available for battery storage technologies in South Africa. Nigeria also saw the next phase of the U.K.-Nigeria Climate Finance Accelerator unveiled; while the continent as a whole, is set to benefit from further partnerships and investment in both solar and climate change.

Canadian Solar Inc. and ET Energy will deliver EPC services to two large-scale solar PV projects totaling 132 MWp for South Africa’s BioTherm Energy.

Although lobbyists will be dismayed a 1 GW annual cap on PV will remain, the indications are it will disappear after 2030 – if not before – and renewables appear to have become a more attractive proposition than nuclear, as coal is phased out.

Chinese solar PV manufacturer, Seraphim has inaugurated a US$14 million, 300 MW solar PV module manufacturing facility in South Africa. Plans are in place to ramp this up to 1.5 GW over the next three years, and add 300 MW of cell production.

The improvement to the country’s power infrastructure is planned to enable the integration of renewable energy IPP projects under the recently-signed PPAs, as part of the REIPPPP program.