Off-grid solar

Four Nigerian universities are in the final stages of abandoning the country’s main grid to be fully powered by mini-grids. Nigeria aims to use more mini-grid technology to power its people by tapping a $550 million World Bank loan.

Italian industrial group Maccaferri, the parent company of the insolvent EPC contractor, has also filed for insolvency for another three units of its energy business.

A tracking report from five major international agencies finds the world is lagging behind sustainable development goals for 2030. While more effort is needed to reach some of the world’s poorest populations, though, notable progress has been made in reducing the electrification deficit, thanks to off-grid solar and minigrids.

The funds will be used for electrification projects in West Africa and the Sahel to bring electricity to 1.7 million people.

As RP Global starts work on 11 solar hybrid mini-grids on Lake Victoria that will supply electricity to 160,000 people, analyst Wood Mackenzie has released a report stating how increased capital flows in the sector may still fall short of securing universal electricity access by 2030. Nonetheless, off-grid solar is the cheapest and most viable solution for remote areas and attracts investment from fossil fuel majors and venture capital funds.

The Portuguese utility expands its renewable energy business – traditionally dominated by wind – with a new storage station in Romania and the acquisition of a start-up, which offers off-grid home solar solutions in Bangladesh.

While Africa has emerged as a dynamic, fast-moving hub, Asia leads in capacity deployment with its total capacity more than tripling to nearly 4.3 GW in 2017 from 1.3 GW in 2008, finds IRENA. Particularly, in India, a strong policy has pushed deployment of off-grid solar for agriculture and public end-uses.

According to a tracking report from five international agencies, the world is lagging behind its sustainable development goals for the period 2015-2030, although significant progress has been made in reducing electrification deficit in the least developed countries, and industrial energy efficiency. Off-grid solar solutions, meanwhile, are emerging as one of the key drivers of rural energy access.

Solar energy is expanding at a fast pace in the Middle East, including in Yemen, a country which has been plagued by conflict since 2015. Now the United Nations International Development Association (IDA) is injecting another US$50 million to provide urban communities with solar power.

A US$600,000 investment has been secured by EcoEnergy to help it provide off-grid solar PV solutions to 10,000 rural households in Pakistan.