Zambia

MySol Grid Zambia, a subsidiary of Engie Energy Access (EEA), has secured $7.5 million of debt from the Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI) to build 60 minigrids. The projects will provide electricity to more than 40,000 people in rural areas.

ZESCO has kicked off a tender for solar projects in Zambia’s Southern, Western, and Luapula provinces.

For the many millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa who lack access to electric lighting, sunset brings an almost enveloping dark. But Light Libraries is one handy solar-powered program that brings an affordable end to darkness for school students. pv magazine sat down with Sofia Ollvid from SolarAid to discuss how these libraries work.

Canadian company First Quantum Minerals will commission 430MW of photovoltaic and wind generation capacity from Total Eren and renewables-for-African-mining specialist Chariot Transitional Power.

With pressure mounting on the world’s governments to turn their back on the fossil fuel, China and peers in South East Asia, Europe and South Asia could help deliver a coal-free future at the COP26 climate summit planned in Glasgow in November.

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.

The Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE) and the Solar Industry Association of Zambia (SIAZ) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to support the transition to renewable energy sources in Zambia. One of the goals is to create at least five million green jobs globally.

The global off-grid solar appliance market began an uneven recovery from the worst ravages of the global pandemic in the second half of last year, according to market body GOGLA, but more finance and policy support must be made available to have any chance of achieving universal electricity access this decade.

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.

Trade bodies the Africa Solar Industry Association and the African Hydrogen Partnership hosted a two-day virtual conference to discuss the role green hydrogen can play in economic growth across the continent–and how it could drive desalination in freshwater-starved coastal countries.