mini-grids

The Senate committee examining a house bill granting a PV mini-grid franchise to renewable energy firm Solar Phillippines has been debating the reach of the franchise as well as its exclusivity, with the discussion to reconvene in May after the general election.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is providing nearly half the funding necessary for a scheme to deploy solar mini-grids across 100 villages in Burkina Faso.

UPDATED: A controversial House Bill granting private Filipino firm Solar Philippines a PV mini-grid and transmission franchise across the Philippines has all but passed through Congress, with only a procedural third step left to confirm the final draft of the Bill.

PV Tech visits a mini-grid at a village in the heart of the North Indian plains to see how a bold mix of biomass, solar and energy storage technologies is transforming local businesses.

The World Bank has signed a US$55 million financing agreement with the government of Bangladesh to expand renewable energy applications in rural areas.

The platform will look to grow off-grid energy service companies spanning solar home systems, large solar, and metering applications such as pumps and mini-grids.

Major oil company Shell and European utility ENGIE are among investors to have pumped US$20 million into Husk Power Systems, a developer of microgrids which is expanding its efforts in Asia and Africa.

California-headquartered minigrid company Powerhive, scheduled to attend Solar & Off-grid Renewables Africa in Tanzania next week, is the first private company registered as a utility in Kenya. Andy Colthorpe spoke with Daniel Porras, vice president for impact and communications and a member of the executive team.

Solar Media, the publisher of PV Tech, has identified more than 50 potential mini-grid projects in Tanzania ahead of its Solar & Off-Grid Renewables Summit in Dar Es Salaam on 5-6 December.

Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi has expressed intentions for the Filipino government to accelerate the deployment of mini-grids using renewable energy in the country to help achieve its goal of total electrification by 2022.