The drive to electrify Sub-Saharan Africa will require US$350 billion of investment and could reveal an alternative vision for the energy transition that focuses on a decentralised, bottom-up solar-and-storage rich grid that takes advantage of cheap solar power, according to research firm Wood Mackenzie.
Norwegian renewables company Scatec has signed a memorandum of understanding with the General Authority for Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE), The Sovereign Fund of Egypt, the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company, and the New and Renewable Energy Authority to develop a large-scale green ammonia plant in Egypt.
Norway’s Norfund and UK development finance institution CDC have teamed up to fund 2.4GW of renewable deployment in South Africa through a ZAR600 million (US$39 million) investment in renewables company H1 Capital.
South African mining company Tharisa has signed an agreement with renewables developer Total Eren and African energy company Chariot to build a 40MW solar PV project to power its mining operations as more of the country’s heavy industries turn to solar.
With the sixth auction round of South Africa’s REIPPP on the horizon and new opportunities for distributed PV opening up, Alice Grundy explores the remaining barriers to solar deployment in the country.
Abu Dhabi-based renewables company Masdar has set up a new joint venture (JV) that will focus on developing renewable energy projects across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa.
