The African Development Bank Board has approved US$20 million in loans to the Democratic Republic of Congo, to support renewable energy mini-grids of 3-10MW capacity at three cities that are currently off-grid.
The UK government is to provide £100 million of funding to the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP) to support up to 40 new renewable energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa including small-scale solar, wind, geothermal and biomass sources up to 2023, along with £105 million for certified green buildings in emerging markets.
Zimbabwean mining firm RioZim has contracted Spanish-Japanese renewable energy company Univergy International and power firm RioEnergy to develop, build, operate and maintain four solar PV plants totalling more than 180MW capacity to supply cheaper power to four of the country's largest mines, according to a filing on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).
Madagascar’s Ministry of Water, Energy and Hydrocarbons (MEEH) has released a list of six pre-qualified bidders for the country’s 25MW(AC) Scaling Solar tender, which is the first to include energy storage in its remit.
Inspired Evolution has signed off on a deal to invest up to US$36 million in Alten RE Developments Africa, the Sub-Saharan African subsidiary of Alten Energías Renovables.
The Church Pension Fund (CPF), a financial services organization that serves the Episcopal Church, has invested US$17 million in a fund that provides loans to microfinance institutions, distribution companies, and manufacturers in the off-grid solar sector in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
The German Development Bank (KfW) and the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) have set up a new credit facility instrument built to support renewable energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa that targets small- and mid-scale renewable energy projects (up to 50MW).