Africa

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.

French power giant EDF has acquired a 50% stake in the Togo-focused unit of off-grid renewable energy specialist BBOXX, with EDF adding its financial clout to speed up solar home system deployments and its technical expertise to improve the energy storage offering.