Africa

Namibia launches EPC tender for 20 MW solar project
The nation’s Central Procurement Board, on behalf of utility NamPower, has announced a tender to select an engineering, procurement and construction services contractor.
Oct 23, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, tender, Africa, Namibia
Burkina Faso gold mines to get 13 MW solar-plus-storage
Renewable energy is rapidly being adopted by mining companies as the combination of off-grid power and cheaply available renewables offers a strong business case.
Oct 23, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Storage, Total Eren, PV plant, solar-plus-storage, Africa, nordgold, Burkina Faso, Nikolai Zelenski
Nordgold plans 13MW of solar with storage for Burkina Faso mines
Nordgold intends to build a 13MW PV plant with battery storage that will provide power to its Burkina Faso gold mines, thanks to an agreement signed with Total Eren and equity investor Africa Energy Management Platform (AEMP) on Tuesday.
Oct 23, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Storage, Total Eren, Australia, solar-plus-storage, Oceania, Africa, mining, nordgold, mines, Burkina Faso, downer, alinta, Nikolai Zelenski
Completion of 390 MW Benban projects crowns impressive quarter for Scatec Solar
With power production up 133% year-on-year, revenues and EBITDA also rose significantly.
Oct 22, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Raymond Carlsen, Scatec Solar, Ukraine, Europe, Asia, Africa, Egypt, Mozambique
South Africa PV industry welcomes 6GW allocation despite time gaps
A decision by South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to allocate 6GW of new large-scale solar over the next decade has been welcomed by the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) for giving a “moderate level of certainty” to the industry.
Oct 22, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Storage, ENERGY STORAGE, Africa, coal, reippp, doe, dmre, embedded generation, sapvia, irp, Wido Schnabel, Niveshen Govender
South Africa plans to allocate at least 6 GW of large scale solar by 2030
That would take the country to 8.28 GW of generation capacity by the end of the next decade with the government stating up to 6 GW of small scale capacity could be required on top. By that stage, however, coal would still amount to 43% of generation capacity and gas and diesel a combined 8.1%, under the new Integrated Resource Plan.
Oct 21, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, UTILITY-SCALE SOLAR, Africa
AfDB approves €138 million package for Tunisian grid
The African Development Bank’s (AfDB) board of directors have approved a €138 million (US$154 million) investment for Tunisia’s state-run electricity distribution network.
Oct 17, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Grids, Tunisia, Africa, African Development Bank, tunisian electricity and gas company, Mohamed El Azizi
Cronimet finishes 1 MW rooftop PV array on Namibian mall
The German developer and independent power producer claims it finished its latest solar project in the country about one month ahead of schedule.
Oct 16, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Rooftop PV, Germany, Europe, Africa, Namibia, Cronimet Mining Power Solutions
EBRD considers $60 million investment in Infinity Energy
The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering investing US $60 million in renewables developer Infinity Energy, a subsidiary of Egyptian conglomerate Mansour Group.
Oct 15, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, EBRD, Jordan, Asia, Africa, Benban, Egypt, Morocco, lebanon, infinity energy
BayWa r.e. goes for gold with solar-plus-storage mine project in Mali
European renewables developer Baywa r.e. will deploy a solar-plus-storage project for a goldmine in Mali.
Oct 15, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Storage, solar-plus-storage, Africa, baywa r.e., co-location, suntrance, Tobias Kriete, juwi
UN fund gets behind plan to unlock finance for South African renewables
UN money will help South African PV players underpin project revenues without the need to resort to the government, after a year when Eskom’s woes have cast doubts on the state-offtaker route.
Oct 9, 2019 // Markets & Finance News, Africa, eskom, green climate fund, embedded pv, un, dbsa, Yannick Glemarec
Emerging markets help new faces into list of world’s top EPC providers
Although the Wiki-solar website ranking only gives a snapshot of PV project engineering, procurement and construction contracts outside China, it is nevertheless a useful indicator of the changing shape of the global solar market.
Oct 9, 2019 // Markets & Finance News, Spain, SunPower, China, First Solar, Europe, Asia, Africa, Egypt, Turkey, Hanwha Q-Cells, Belectric, juwi, Enerparc
An oasis of PV
A new study shows that solar may help reduce water pumping costs in a desert oasis of Mauritania by more than 300%, while also considerably reducing water losses. The researchers claim that PV water pumping may also help prevent the desertification of these areas.
Oct 7, 2019 // Technology, Storage, storage, Africa, thin-film PV, Mauritania, PV water pumping systems, Sahara Desert
World Bank: Nigeria’s mini-grid sector set to boom
A World Bank presentation in London drew an encouraging picture for the Nigerian market by explaining why the mini grid segment will take off in the next 12 months.
Oct 7, 2019 // Markets & Finance News, Grids, world bank, Africa, London, Nigeria, Exel, Off-Grid Energy Access Forum, Nayo Tropical Technology, Havenhill Synergy Ltd, GVE Projects Ltd, ACOB Lighting Technology Ltd
WoodMac: Merchant shift may push PV towards risk-keener owners
Solar’s embrace of subsidy-free models could push it in greater numbers towards owners with the experience to navigate power price swings, according to Wood Mackenzie.
Oct 7, 2019 // Markets & Finance News, Europe, woodmac, Africa, middle east, NextEra, Rishab Shrestha, Tom Heggarty