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.
While Filipino policymakers ponder a controversial bill that would allow a solar company to set up a micro-grid and transmission franchise aiming to improve power supply across the country, a small town on the island of Mindoro is already enjoying round-the-clock electricity for the first time ever.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has partnered with Monash University and technology provider Indra Australia to trial a microgrid as a first step to powering Monash’s Clayton campus entirely with renewable energy by 2030.
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.
Rooftop PV is the fastest growing renewable energy sub-segment in India, with individual system sizes increasing and the C&I sector maturing, but a new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) predicts that India will still only reach 9.5GW out of its 40GW target by 2022.
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.
Mitsui & Co., a major Japanese industrial conglomerate, has formed a Joint Venture (JV) with leading India mini-grid developer OMC Power to expand their mini-grid business into Africa. The new JV is part of a ¥1 billion (US$9 million) equity investment by Mitsui in OMC Power.
French power giant Engie Group is partnering with three firms to develop various solar-related projects in Indonesia requiring US$1.25 billion investment.
Africa cannot wait for the development of electricity infrastructure and should exploit more quickly deployable solutions such as solar PV, according to a report by Kofi Annan’s Africa Progress Panel.
In an unprecedented move, the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has pushed through a rural electrification regulation. Andre Susanto, senior vice president and founder, PT Inovasi Dinamika Pratama, discusses how this regulation provides an opportunity for the private sector to engage in electrifying Indonesia's 12,000 villages currently without any access to electricity.
The World Bank will finance various energy, water and infrastructure projects in northern Kenya under its US$1.1 billion North-eastern Kenya Development Initiative, according to reports.
India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has invited comments from stakeholders on its draft ‘National Policy for Renewable Energy based Micro and Mini Grids’.
