World Bank

Solar association chair argues urgent battery energy storage deployment is key to supporting continued PV boom in Pakistan. Residential solar CEO predicts surge in behind-the-meter storage demand if and when Pakistan’s generous net metering policy is wound down.

Spain’s FRV has commissioned a 62 MW solar plant in Armenia under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Electrical Networks of Armenia CJSC. The project is the country’s biggest operational PV facility to date.

Husk Power says Prism, its new containerized “minigrid-in-a-box” solution, allows it to deploy minigrids at a rate of one per day with the same resources.

Multilateral organizations the World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB) have played a key role in the development of African solar and want to attract more private capital to a continent with at least 40% of the world’s solar irradiation but currently only 1% of its PV generation capacity.

The EnergyNet event brings together more than 2,000 energy decision-makers from Africa at the Fira de Montjuïc in Barcelona from June 25 to 28. The attendees include African governments, utilities, regulators, financial institutions, banks, energy developers, technology providers, and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors.

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.

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.

Solar is not only helping to keep the lights on in Ukraine – it also has a vital role as part of Europe’s energy transition and clean energy economy.

Buoyant predictions about a rosy future for African photovoltaics, based on the continent’s abundant solar resources, continue to overlook the difficulties of securing investment, as Empower New Energy co-founder and CEO Terje Osmundsen explains, referring to a report published by the Africa Solar Industry Association at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi today.

While the climate summit held at Sharm El Sheikh last month prompted pledges of raised funding for solar lanterns and single-panel systems, the money allocated to date is woefully short of what has been estimated would be required to provide universal access to electricity this decade. Drew Corbyn of Netherlands-based global off-grid solar body GOGLA, outlines three urgent courses of action to accelerate access to electricity.