Off-Grid

A nation made up of thousands of small islands should be a blessing to any off-grid renewable energy firm, but poor access to upfront financing makes Indonesia a tougher proposition than one would expect. To discuss the market, PV Tech caught up with Verania Andria, associate director, community renewable energy, Millennium Challenge Account Indonesia, which focuses on financing off-grid renewables in Indonesia with grant funding.

Environment Impact Assessment is not applicable to solar projects, Customs Duty concessions for solar projects will continue post GST, a guide to on and off-grid solar DC systems.

The latest phase of a AUS$55 million (US$43.8 million) programme giving remote communities in Australia’s Northern Territory reliable and clean power will see a 2MWh battery installed and paired with more than 3,000 solar PV panels.

Tenders for solar-plus-storage projects on French island territories including Corsica, Guadeloupe and Martinique have resulted in winning bids often 40% lower than the victors of previous reverse auctions.

A reverse solar auction is to be run for London homeowners under plans outlined by the mayor Sadiq Khan today, which place community energy schemes at the centre of the city authority’s plans while shutting the door once and for all on a rumoured London feed-in tariff.

Clean energy firm Holaluz has completed Spain’s first shared self-consumption solar PV and battery storage facility on a house near Barcelona.

Brazil has reached 100MW of distributed solar PV micro-generation and mini-generation deployment, according to the Brazilian solar association (ABsolar).

A pay-to-own solar system will be developed in Zambia by MTN, Africa’s largest telecoms company, in partnership with Fenix International, who is extending ReadyPay Power.

The World Bank is providing US$150 million in credit for off-grid solar energy in marginalised communities of Kenya.

Eritrea will soon join the global solar boom with a €5.7million fund bringing clean power to two rural villages that currently rely on small diesel generators.

Engie is investing in Kingo Energy and Mera Gao Power aiming to bring renewable energy to over 2 million people in Central America and India by 2020.

Ten indigenous communities in Australia are set to be powered by hybrid solar PV and diesel systems in the first phase of an AU$55 million (US$43.8 million) project.

Solarcentury collaboration with the EU and UNDP on mini-grid hybrid solar system projects in East Africa.

Mobisol has secured funding from Finnfund for its East Africa expansion, CEFC's investment commitments more than doubled last fiscal year, Acciona is supplying renewable energy to Latin America's largest retail store chain, Sungrow has supplied inverters and an energy storage system to the Bahamas.

India reached 1,396MW of rooftop solar deployment at the end of March, with nearly half (678MW) of this installed just in the fiscal year 2016-17, according to the latest ‘India Solar Rooftop Map’ from Bridge to India.