nigeria

Babatunde Fashola, Nigeria’s Minister of Power Works and Housing, has signed off on two put/call option agreements (PCOA) with solar developers Afrinegia Nigeria Limited and CT Cosmos Nigeria Limited.

The theme of this week's Movers & Shakers is international expansion. PAYG off-grid solar provider Azuri Technologies is strengthening its leadership team to target West Africa, while Vancouver, Canada-based Solar Alliance Energy targets US assets and expands its sales team to accommodate for this. ABB appoints new regional heads to ensure direct market contact with Europe and the AMEA region.

Nigeria is one of the most economically sound countries on the continent. Trailblazing in many ways including finance, infrastructure and employment, the country has up until very recently been a laggard when it comes to renewable energy. However, a newly-installed government is ensuring priorities are changing and frameworks are being put in place to exploit Nigeria’s clean energy prowess and close the gap between supply and demand. Segun Adaju, president of the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria, discussed with PV Tech how the country is getting to grips with clean energy.

Off-grid solar company Azuri Technologies announced Tuesday that it has reached the mark of 100,000 sales of its PayGo solar home systems in sub-saharan Africa.

Last week the EU’s Africa Renewable Energy Initiative announced 14 new renewable energy projects across the continent, representing 1.7GW, with a total potential investment of almost €4 billion.

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.

Oriental Renewable Solutions, a subsidiary of the Oriental Group has formed a 50:50 equity partnership with GreenWish Partners to co-develop a 50MW solar PV project in Jigawa State, Nigeria.

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.