africa

GreenWish Partners, a competitive and reliable renewable power provider with headquarters in Paris and across Africa, has been successful in implementing utility-scale PV plants in Africa. With a mission to demonstrate the potential of renewable energy to fuel the economic and social development of the continent, the company is well on its way to achieving its 600MW of installed capacity in Africa goal. GreenWish caught up with PV Tech to discuss the key ingredients in achieving such a feat in a region where large-scale projects have traditionally been difficult to commission.

Karim Megherbi, director of Origination for Africa & Central Asia at Dubai-based Access Power stopped by PV Tech to discuss why West Africa will materialise as the next hotspot for solar PV and how investors can take advantage of this.

Power Africa, the USAID-funded energy initiative created under the Obama administration, has announced plans to invest US$1 billion in Nigeria’s energy sector, according to programme co-ordinator Andrew Herscowitz.

News in brief: Enel Green Power provides PV modules to power a new surgery in a Ugandan hospital, California's LA Solar Group announces new rooftop solar programme, Borrego Solar completes a new commercial PV system in San Diego, California and Hannon Armstrong secures a new US$144 million investment for more than 690MW worth of new solar projects, and more.

News in Brief: NRG commissions a 3.15MW Florida solar plant with Lakeland Electric, Power Africa reaches 30,000 new solar connections in Nigeria, PayGo solar company Azuri nets US$5 million for off-grid expansion in Africa, UPS will expand its solar capacity five-fold and India's BHEL bags its biggest single rooftop PV order.

Investors from Solarcentury and Actis imparted wisdom on how to manage the risks and reap the benefits of African PV at Solar Media’s Solar Finance & Investment Europe event.

Doubt has been cast on the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) ‘Scaling Solar’ programme after a panel of investors revealed it could be fostering a race to the bottom for unrealistic tariffs, diverting focus from essential bankability.

UK off-grid solar company Azuri Technologies has launched an PayGo solar home system partnership with Nigeria’s Delta Power Holding (NDPHC).

A pay-to-own solar system provider known as Fenix International has doubled its off-grid customer base in just 12 months of operation.

Gigawatt Global, a multinational renewable energy company and partner of Obama’s Power Africa initiative, has broken ground on its 1GW solar programme with the 7.5MW solar project in Burundi.