Kazang Solar, the distribution partner of UK-headquartered off-grid solar specialist Azuri Technologies in Zambia, has been awarded US$1.6 million from the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) to provide home lighting products to more than 7,000 off-grid customers in rural Zambia.
Zola Energy, one of two US-headquartered providers of off-grid solar-plus-storage solutions to the African continent profiled in Energy-Storage.news’ recent Global Storage Opportunity 2018 report, has obtained US$20 million debt financing.
Zimbabwean firm Karo Mining Holdings plans to build a 300MW solar project close to its new platinum mining operations west of Harare instead of its original plans for a 600MW coal-fired power plant, after discussions with the Zimbabwean government.
After successful trials, the Veolia Foundation, an arm of French waste management giant Veolia that financially backs non-profit, community-oriented projects, has decided to expand its decentralised solar electrification plans in northern Madagascar to create 1,000 nano-grids and 100 nano-entrepreneurs by the end of the year.
A number of international initiatives have helped large-scale solar gain a foothold in Africa. The question now is how the market for this segment will develop beyond these programmes and how much capacity grids will be able to support.
A veteran of Kenya’s renewable energy industry has argued strongly in favour of lead acid batteries over lithium-ion, in response to a recent Energy-Storage.news article on off-grid solar PV in Africa.
Increasingly, solar energy and behind-the-meter battery storage assets are being deployed on an ‘as-a-service’ basis and system integrator Younicos has decided to replicate the strategy for microgrids.
UK-based off-grid renewables specialist BBOXX has signed a deal with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to bring clean power to 2.5 million citizens across the African country by 2020, via off-grid solar kits and mini-grids.
Private Kenyan power firm Kenergy Renewables has signed off on a 20-year deal to sell 40MW of PV power to the country’s state-run utility, Reuters reports.
Close on heels of its recent announcement on forming a new global unit focused on the hybrid and energy storage market, Indian EPC Sterling and Wilson has won a captive solar-diesel-storage microgrid project in Africa. PV Tech caught up with Vish Iyer, global head of business development, strategy and marketing for the Hybrid and Energy Storage division at Sterling and Wilson, to find out more.
