Africa

Risen Energy has landed a 1.5GW bifacial module supply deal with an unnamed, yet “well-known” independent power producer.

Solar is the “new king” of electricity, the International Energy Agency has said, with the asset class set to deploy more new capacity then any other technology each year for the coming decades.

South Africa’s solar industry has welcomed new government plans to purchase 6.8GW of additional renewables from independent power producers as of 2022, but warned that an “urgent response” is needed to tackle the country’s ongoing energy crisis.

Ib vogt has sold its shareholding in its 64.1MWp ‘Infinity 50’ project, which makes up part of the Benban solar complex in Egypt, to Masdar.

A round-up of the latest solar industry news from around the world, as Aquila picks up its first solar projects in Portugal, one of Europe’s hottest solar markets, and Dehui lays claim to being Vietnam’s first module manufacturer to produce next-generation panels.

NTPC, India’s largest power company, is aiming to add more than 5GW of new solar capacity in the next two years as it builds its renewables presence overseas thanks to a collaboration with the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

Transporting green hydrogen produced using solar PV in North Africa could be up to 15% cheaper than producing it domestically in Italy, a new study compiled by think tank The European House – Ambrosetti and natural gas giant Snam has found.

Seraphim Solar has introduced its S2 full-black half-cell series module, specifically tailor-made for residential and commercial rooftop installations. This new iteration of the present S2 module series offers an all-black facade for superior aesthetics, while providing high-performance power output of up to 330Wp, advanced shading protection and an extensive 15-year product warranty.

South Africa-based steel producer ArcelorMittal SA (AMSA) is inviting proposals from independent power producers (IPPs) to build two utility-scale solar projects as it seeks to reduce its energy costs.

Governments should focus on mini-grids as a means to enabling access to reliable electricity for hundreds of millions of people that don’t yet have it and mini-grids using solar and batteries have matured as a technology class, but financing such projects remains problematic, a new report has found.