Africa

IEA finds renewables investment down 3%, Huntec to build 370MW in Mexico, Meeco to build 57 small-scale systems in Guyana, Enel and SeedWorld collaborate to find Africa energy startups.

ReneSola has been awarded 5MW of agricultural PV projects in Thailand, Vonovia and E.ON are to install 2.2MW of solar systems in Dresden, Redavia has opened a Ghana office.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has put out a tender request for a 25MW hybrid solar-diesel-storage project in Sierra Leone.

A 30MW solar PV project in Tanzania is one of the winners of Access Power’s US$7 million Access Co-Development Facility (ACF).

Whilst African solar is still firmly an emerging market, investors have confirmed that issues remain with development finance, insofar as it is holding back the market from truly taking off. Whilst development finance institutions (DFIs) are a crucial part of allowing the market to find its feet, the continent’s economic infrastructure needs to move beyond the realm of development finance for commercial financiers to be enticed.

Breaking up Eskom’s monopoly in South Africa’s power market is not the answer to signing the outstanding PPAs under the country’s renewable energy procurement programme, a representative from the Department of Energy (DOE) has said.

SunEQ signs PPA for 5MW Namibia project, India's Pune Metro plans 17MW solar, Adani Green Energy no longer Adani subsidiary, Cuba to get 4.4MW PV project

A total of 12 bidders have been prequalified following the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Zambia’s second round of Scaling Solar tenders for up to 300MW of PV projects.

Botswana’s state-owned power utility has invited bids to build a 100MW plant in the country.

The Ivory Coast plans to build a 25MW solar PV plant in the north of the country in Benguébougou, Korhogo, which will be one of the first solar plants in the country.