More than half of the 4 million solar products sold by member companies in the Global Off-grid Lighting Association (GOGLA) in the second half of 2015 were in Sub-Saharan Africa, the association has reported.
Italian renewable energy firm Enertronica has acquired a US$7.98 million 6MW PV plant in Namibia, under a 25-year PPA with NamPower, at an initial value of US$1.37kWh.
Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy firm Masdar has launched four utility-scale clean energy projects as well as thousands of residential solar systems in remote areas across Egypt.
Italian renewables, energy efficiency and waste management firm TerniEnrgia has established a subsidiary in Mozambique to participate in African renewable energy projects.
Significant increases of utility tariffs in Nigeria and Ghana are improving the business case for solar by providing money to utilities and bringing competition to the power market, according to energy developers.
Accra-based developer Strategic Power Solutions (SPS) has launched a new PV module manufacturing plant for US$50 million in Kpone, a commercial hub just outside the country’s capital.
CT Cosmos, a subsidiary of Nigeria’s Communication Towers Ltd, has established plans to build a 70MW solar farm worth US$150 million, according to several local reports.
The government of Sierra Leone has officially launched a 6MW solar project in the capital Freetown after securing financial backing from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD).
One in three off-grid households worldwide will use solar products by 2020, according to a new report from the World Bank and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).
