Sub-Saharan Africa

The Minerals Council South Africa has urged the government to solve the country’s energy crisis by adding more power generation capacity from both distributed and large-scale renewables. Meanwhile, several mining companies operating in South Africa are planning their own big solar parks, including two 200 MW facilities under development by Sibanye-Stillwater and Vedanta.

An international research team is proposing a fuzzy logic approach for optimal site selection of large-scale wind, solar and hybrid wind-solar power projects. The new methodology is based on criterial components for energy optimization through climatological, topographic and human factors.

The exemption will be applied to the import of materials, equipment and installation accessories for the deployment of PV and solar thermal systems. The new measure is aimed at increasing access to electricity through more off-grid projects.

The scale of fossil fuel deals signed between African governments and U.K. oil and gas interests reportedly amounted to more than 11 times the volume of renewable energy commitments as Britain scrambles for post-Brexit financial opportunities.

The government has decided to implement a proper independent power producer development plan for large scale PV, with the help of the World Bank.

A list compiled by a British price comparison website draws upon data from German company Statista which shows clean energy – including hydro – made up 12.74% of the nation’s power mix at the end of September.

Félix Tshisekedi reportedly said he wants to use standalone energy units, such as solar home systems, to bring electricity to at least 21 million people in the next nine years.

pv magazine’s UP sustainability campaign has investigated the use of lead in PV panels and found, with soldered cell interconnections in particular, viable alternatives are scarce. However, German headquartered manufacturer Opes Solutions has launched a small module for the off-grid market featuring lead-free solder, developed at the request of a customer. We caught up with Opes CEO Robert Händel for a closer look at the module and the challenges and benefits of going lead-free.

The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development will support half a dozen megawatt scale projects featuring solar in the Caribbean and Africa. In addition to around 42.5 MW of new solar capacity, the fund will also back the development of energy storage, waste-to-energy and biogas facilities.

With the country’s first procurement exercise for bigger projects, the Togolese government intends to develop solar parks with a combined generation capacity of up to 80 MW. The tender is being held under the umbrella of the World Bank’s Scaling Solar initiative.