South Africa installed 1.3 GW of PV last year
Around 800 MW of last year’s new additions came from ground-mounted solar plants, and the remaining 500 MW from distributed generation.
A wave of big African solar is set to break
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.
Scatec secures 150 MW of South African tender as part of solar-plus-storage project
The Norwegian renewables business said the PPA-linked generation capacity is part of a wider, $1 billion complex which will feature 540 MW of solar project capacity and 225 MW/1.14 GWh of battery storage.
Green hydrogen supply chain concerns
With South Africa holding 63,000 of the world’s estimated 69,000 metric tons of platinum reserves – according to the Statista.com website – and Russia and Zimbabwe a further 5,100 between them, the European Commission has cited the metal as an example of a potential supply chain bottleneck that could handicap its grand plans for renewables-powered hydrogen production.
South African bank secures continent’s ‘first green loan’
The private-sector arm of the World Bank says it will lend up to $150 million to Johannesburg-based Absa Bank for green project funding.
Solar and wind could provide half of 2040 power mix across 22 African nations
The International Renewable Energy Agency has combined energy infrastructure commitments across a huge swathe of the continent with hundreds of regional sites which offer rich solar and onshore wind potential, to determine what could be possible.
EU to offer expertise to drive renewables-friendly policy across Africa
The oft-heard industry call for more supportive policy for renewables, this time in Africa, has prompted the European Commission to pledge to work with its continental counterpart on improving the clean energy regulatory environment.
No bifacial solar in West Africa? That’s likely to change soon
A technology-focused event held by the Africa Solar Industry Association has heard development pipelines across the continent are swiftly changing to accommodate double-sided PV panels, and that’s good news for solar tracker providers too.
Sasol, Air Liquide seek to procure 900 MW of renewables in South Africa
The two companies are seeking proposals to provide power to Sasol’s synthetic fuel plant in Secunda, Mpumalanga.
Solar and wind together overhaul global hydro capacity
The latest set of clean energy statistics compiled by the International Renewable Energy Agency signal a changing of the guard when it comes to clean power, with legacy hydropower facilities overtaken by new intermittent renewables.
