International Renewable Energy Agency

The latest global PV installer survey by Germany’s EUPD Research offers a hint of the solar brands which installers, mostly based in Europe, gravitate toward. This year’s report also ventured to South Africa and considered mounting systems for the first time.

The government of Sao Tome and Principe is inviting bids to build a 1.5 MW solar plant which it appears is destined to replace a thermoelectric facility.

The clean power numbers published annually by the International Renewable Energy Agency provide a snapshot of the global solar market and, this year, a lot of figures were unchanged from the previous dataset, especially in the off-grid segment.

The International Renewable Energy Agency’s latest global outlook has spelled out just how ‘woefully’ far the world is from capping temperature rises at 1.5C, and lamented: ‘The stimulus and recovery efforts associated with the pandemic have also proved a missed opportunity.’

A report published by Irena hints the world’s politicians will have to get to work immediately to avoid another generation of fossil fuel-fired hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol plants being set up to run into the second half of the century.

While East Africa – and Kenya is particular – has made great strides in the provision of off-grid solar systems, Central Africa is a long way behind, according to a new report from IRENA and the African Development Bank. In terms of investment, the study’s authors wrote, much, much more will be required to achieve universal electricity access this decade.

While there are still many uncertainties as to the way in which hydrogen trade might evolve and change economic ties and political dynamics between countries, experts agree that green hydrogen can bring winds of change to the global energy arena. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, significant geoeconomic and geopolitical shifts are just around the corner.

Two investors backed by the charitable foundations set up by energy giants have seed-funded the cash pot to lend to African solar companies, who will be able to buy solar kit cheaper thanks to the economies of scale offered by the aggregation of orders.

The closing day of the African Energy Week event held in South Africa this month heard voices casting doubt on a renewables-only energy transition and calling for a gradual change and continued investment in petrochemical production.

The latest edition of a clean power jobs survey produced by IRENA and the International Labour Organization has stressed the important role which will need to be played by the public sector if the energy transition’s employment benefits are to be shared equally.