GCF backs solar mini-grids for 100 villages in Burkina Faso
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is providing nearly half the funding necessary for a scheme to deploy solar mini-grids across 100 villages in Burkina Faso.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is providing nearly half the funding necessary for a scheme to deploy solar mini-grids across 100 villages in Burkina Faso.
The UK government is to provide £100 million of funding to the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP) to support up to 40 new renewable energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa including small-scale solar, wind, geothermal and biomass sources up to 2023, along with £105 million for certified green buildings in emerging markets.
Seraphim Solar will establish 500MW of solar cell manufacturing capacity in South Africa. The expansion plans also include facilities for 200MW of half-cut cell module assembly in the country.
Arthur Peter Mutharika, President of the Republic of Malawi, helped lead a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction of the 60MW Salima Solar project within the country.
Kenya's government has launched a plan for total electrification in the country by 2022, which acknowledges the role that off-grid systems, mini-grids and stand-alone solar plants can have in complementing extensions to the grid and mitigating higher loads.
Zimbabwean mining firm RioZim has contracted Spanish-Japanese renewable energy company Univergy International and power firm RioEnergy to develop, build, operate and maintain four solar PV plants totalling more than 180MW capacity to supply cheaper power to four of the country's largest mines, according to a filing on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).
SMA to supply inverters to 50MW Mali solar plant, EIB to provide US$87 million to Mexican solar, Solkompaniet completes largest solar project in West Sweden.
JinkoSolar has supplied 55.7MW of its high-efficiency modules to the Garissa Solar Power Plant in Kenya, which is expected to be one of the largest solar power plants in central and eastern Africa once it is completed.
The US government's Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has provided US$6 million of debt for a commercial and industrial scale solar fund.
A pair of oil and gas giants, Algerian state-run company Sonatrach and Italy-based firm Eni, have inaugurated a 10MW solar PV project to power an oil field in Bir Rebaa North (BRN) in Algeria.
Australian firm Resolute Mining has signed an agreement with Africa-focused power developer Ignite Energy to set up a 40MW hybrid solar, battery and heavy fuel oil (HFO) plant at its Syama Gold Mine in Mali, according to an ASX filing.
Oman reveals bidders in 500MW solar tender, Chint builds 15MW in the Netherlands, IBC completes solar-plus-storage system in Zimbabwe.
French energy giant ENGIE has signed power purchase agreements for two solar power plants in Senegal.
Singapore's EDB consults on 100MW floating solar, ADB funds Mongolia 41MW distributed solar-wind-storage project, Solarcentury to install solar panels at Moi International Airport in Kenya.
The distributed renewable energy (DRE) sector, necessary in a world with millions of people without power, is being held back by a chronic shortage of skilled workers. Indeed, Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) has just 16,000 people working in renewable energy in a region with 600 million un-electrified people, according to the founders of a new campaign aiming to fill this skills gap.
