China-based polysilicon and wafer producer Daqo New Energy is feeling the significant impact from the recent change in the Chinese government’s solar deployment policies as multicrystalline wafer shipments have been slashed by as much as 50% for the second quarter of 2018.
UK development finance institution CDC and its Africa-focused independent power producer Globeleq are providing US$66 million in debt financing for Malindi Solar Group to build a 52MW solar PV plant in Southeast Kenya.
The US threat of 10% tariffs on solar inverters has been met with a mixture of disdain and composure by authorities and the Chinese solar industry itself.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved US$50 million of framework financing for small-scale renewable energy projects in Zambia, after recent droughts caused a serious electricity supply deficit due to the country’s heavy reliance on hydropower.
After successful trials, the Veolia Foundation, an arm of French waste management giant Veolia that financially backs non-profit, community-oriented projects, has decided to expand its decentralised solar electrification plans in northern Madagascar to create 1,000 nano-grids and 100 nano-entrepreneurs by the end of the year.
Developer and investor Distributed Sun (DSUN) and wind turbine firm Emergya Wind Technologies (EWT) have sold off 75MW of community solar projects they were co-developing in New York.
A number of international initiatives have helped large-scale solar gain a foothold in Africa. The question now is how the market for this segment will develop beyond these programmes and how much capacity grids will be able to support.
Europe’s installed base of electrical energy storage leaped by almost 50% during 2017 but perhaps the bigger takeaway is the growing share of battery systems installed behind-the-meter, an analyst has said
