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’.
