Globeleq

London-based Globeleq has acquired a 48.3% stake in the 25 MW Winnergy solar plant in Egypt’s Benban Solar complex. It will now cooperate on the management of assets and the operation of the facility with Egyptian manufacturer GILA Altawakol Electric.

In this edition of the Weekend Read, we turn to Egypt. The gigawatt-scale Benban project showcases the North African country’s solar potential, and premium prices for gas exports make the case for a more diverse energy mix. A nation with grand renewables targets – but slow installation rates – may finally be weaning itself off fossil fuel resources.

Globeleq’s acquisition of the 41 MW plant significantly expands its renewable energy footprint in Mozambique. It also comes just weeks after the company began commercial operations at a 19 MW solar and 7 MWh storage project in Cuamba.

Anglo-Norwegian public funding body Globeleq has said the 19 MWp/2MW-7 MWh Cuamba project will be supplying electricity during the second half of next year.

A 100 MWac solar farm planned in the Katanga region will be boosted by an additional credit line after the International Finance Corporation and the British and Norwegian government-owned Globeleq came on board.

A solar array planned in the Tetereane district of Cuamba has been described by its developer as the nation’s first independent power project to feature utility scale storage.

The regulator received 26 proposals overall for a project intended to make the kingdom less dependent on power imports from troubled South African utility Eskom.

Globeleq bought the solar plants — which are part of a bigger portfolio that includes wind farms — from an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management. It said that in the coming weeks it will also reach financial close on another 66 MW solar installation, pushing the PV portion of the acquired portfolio up to 119 MW. It currently holds 238 MW of combined solar and wind capacity in South Africa.