Indian state-run Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) is to raise US$450 million through its first ever 10-year Green Bonds with listing at London and Singapore, according energy minister Piyush Goyal.
Off-grid solar product distributor d.light has partnered with cloud-based microfinance institution Musoni to expand access to solar for low-income consumers in Kenya.
The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is continuing its mission of funding priority development projects in emerging economies, this time by signing two grants that leverage US technology and investment to increase access to affordable, reliable electricity in Kenya.
The complexities of combining batteries and solar microgrids are explained by Sam Duby, co-founder and director of research and development at mini-grid technologies company SteamaCo Ltd and project leader at TFE Consulting. TFE Consulting is a strategy consulting firm focusing on accelerating the energy transition in emerging markets and is active in Africa, India, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
More than 16,000 Indian households across 800 remote villages will be given a solar panel, with an eight-hour battery storage backup, according to the Indian minister for power, coal, new and renewable energy and mines, Piyush Goyal.
The Indian government and three of its state-run companies are setting up a US$2 billion equity fund to help renewable energy companies meet the country's ambitious targets, according Reuters citing two government sources.
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.
