Sub-Saharan Africa

The nation has been plagued by extensive power outages again with debt-riddled utility Eskom blaming heavy summer floods for taking out extensive parts of its coal-fired power generation fleet.

The lender is providing the funds to support the West African country’s solar ambitions under the bank’s Desert to Power program. Several other European organizations have vowed to back the €137 million Yeleen solar project, which will encompass four sites.

Egyptian manufacturer El Sewedy Electric has secured a contract from the authorities in Juba to build the $45 million project in Nesitu county. The African Export-Import Bank is financing the facility.

Mali is set to host one of the world’s largest off grid solar+storage projects, as a 30 MW solar plant will soon be coupled with a 17MW/15MWh storage facility to power the Fekola gold mine. Finland’s Wärtsilä will supply the battery.

A unit of Dubai-based Amea Power will build the project in Blitta prefecture, in the center of the West African country, with all electricity to be sold to Togo Electric Power Co. (CEET) under a long-term power purchase agreement.

To have any hope of restricting global heating to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius, the renewables success story which saw 108 GW of solar deployed last year needs to be cranked up to the next level – and fast.

Innoenergy’s recent conference in Berlin repeated the argument financing renewable energy projects in Africa remains a struggle, however it also showcased some hopeful case studies.

The United Nations Development Program is seeking consultants to build a 2 MW solar project and three hydropower plants ranging in generation capacity from 1.15-2 MW.

Offgrid solar power has emerged as a vital part of the PV business across the African continent, and is now spreading to other parts of the globe, mainly with solar home systems and microgrids. pv magazine examines the core issues of financing, business models and the quest for user data.

The African Development Bank is seeking consultants to explore how two hydropower projects and an associated grid planned in Burundi can incorporate solar power. The addition of photovoltaics is intended to reduce the country’s dependency on hydro, level out generation during dry and wet seasons and mitigate the effect of droughts.