Sub-Saharan Africa

Burundi, the poorest country on earth, is unable to buy fossil fuels on theinternational market due to a lack of hard currency. pv magazine spoke with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a PV analyst to assess the true potential of PV in the nation’s current energy crisis.

An African Development Bank (AfDB) report covering critical takeaways from the ARE Energy Access Investment Forum 2023 says that challenges in financing, policy, technology, and skills enhancement must be overcome to support the deployment of distributed renewable energy minigrids across Africa.

Norwegian PV developer Scatec ASA has switched on a hybrid solar and battery storage facility in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.

Utility Eskom is seeking proposals to build a 75 MW solar plant at the Lethabo Power Station in South Africa’s Free State province.

The mini-grid, expected to connect over 1,500 residents to electricity, is part of the company’s wider plans to install over 20 mini-grids in Benin, which will serve more than 30,000 people across 20 rural localities collectively, through a total 1.2 MW capacity.

PNE AG, a Germany-based developer, has sold a 240 MW photovoltaic project in South Africa’s Free State province to energy company NOA Group.

The authorities in Chad have launched a tender for solar-diesel hybrid projects with battery storage, featuring a combined 4 MW of solar capacity and 2 MWh of daily storage.

Africa Data Centres’ new solar farm in South Africa’s Free State will begin as a 12 MW array. It will initially service its Cape Town site, before extending to supply power to the company’s facilities in Johannesburg.

The Ivory Coast’s Ministry of Mines, Oil, and Energy has unveiled plans to build 12 solar plants with a total capacity of 678 MW.

The World Bank’s Regional Emergency Solar Power Intervention Project is funding a tender for solar and storage in Togo, with a bid deadline of June 4.