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Friday, 23 July

Dear <<First Name>>

Solar PV mini-grids are one of the fastest and cheapest ways to provide reliable, stable power to off-grid communities, and are becoming increasingly recognised by governments and investors as a major part of solving energy access challenges across Sub-Saharan Africa.

As I mentioned earlier this month, REPP has been working very closely with the Africa Minigrid Developers Association (AMDA) and other partners to inform and influence the development of a conducive enabling environment for mini-grids in Nigeria and Kenya.

Next Thursday, we are teaming up with AMDA to deliver a high-impact virtual roundtable to discuss the Kenya Draft Energy (Mini-Grid) Regulations 2021, and its impact on investment in the sector. 

The forum is targeted at financiers and development partners working in the mini-grid space in Kenya and across Africa. It will cover a range of issues, from national electrification planning, permitting and tariff setting, to the role of private-public collaboration in advancing electrification and climate action.

Scaling Up Mini-grids in Kenya - How Can the Enabling Environment Drive Investments starts at 4pm (EAT) on Thursday 29 July. To find out more and to register, please click here.

Cheers

Geoff 

Managing Director, Camco Clean Energy


Huawei has announced plans to electrify rural communities in Nigeria by tapping into clean energy sources and positioning itself as an OEM supplier. The company’s Senior Expert of Digital Power highlighted that ‘there is a strong and urgent need to accelerate the growth of renewable energy’ in Sub-Saharan Africa.

West Africa

Gabon: Total Eren to build 50MWp solar park (Renewables Now)
- The independent power producer plans to construct the solar PV park near Libreville and the facility will feed its power output to the utility SEEG.

Nigeria: Government commissions first solar powered EV charging station (Energy Mix)
- The station falls under the Elective Vehicle Pilot Project and is located at the University of Lagos.

Nigeria: PowerGen has secured project financing for mini-grid project (ESI Africa)
- The developer is partnering with CrossBoundary Energy Access (CBEA), Oikocredit, Triodos Investment Management and EDFI ElectriFI to facilitate the development of 28 DRE systems, with the goal of connecting 55,000 people to electricity in rural areas.

Nigeria: PowerCorp to finance 15MW solar project in Nigeria (Energy Mix Report)
- Proceeds from a recent issuance will be used to fund the development of the 15MW Pre-Phase 1 Solar Project, to further fuel the country’s power development.

Nigeria: Huawei to bridge energy gap in rural communities through renewables (Energy Mix Report)
- The Chinese technology company is positioning itself as an OEM supplier and will work with other stakeholders, including regulators and energy service companies, to improve energy access.

Mali: Concession contract signed for Fana plant (Construction Review)
- The 50MWp solar power plant will be based east of Bamako and its 25-year concession contract was signed by Legendre Energie and Malian government bodies.

East Africa

Ethiopia: Filling of the GERD comes to an end (Afrik 21)
- The Ethiopian authorities have announced the completion of the GERD’s second filling. The dam can now provide enough water for electricity generation by August.

Malawi: Africa Trade Insurance Agency insures Salima plant (Afrik 21)
- The agency has insured the 60 MWp solar plant against default to cover late payments by the operator Escom.

Mozambique: The country’s gas ambitions rely on achieving peace (Reuters)
- The country’s gas industry hinges on its ability to end a deadly insurgency that has links to the Islamic State.

Uganda: Integrated energy approach to create clean energy for all (AEP)
- The newly launched Utilities 2.0 Twaake pilot project aims to unite the country’s distributed renewable energy companies and is led by power utility Umeme.
 

Southern Africa

South Africa: C&I sector starts to impact solar PV market (ESI Africa)
- According to the 2021 Africa Solar Report, although large scale solar projects have dominated the sector in recent years, the C&I landscape is booming and could represent 30-40% of all solar capacity installed in the coming years.  

South Africa: Enel wind farm starts commercial operation (Renewables Now)
- The 140 MW farm is located in the Eastern Cape province of the country and its output is being sold under a 20-year PPA with Eskom.

South Africa: 1.3 GW of solar was installed last year (PV Magazine)
- According to new figures released by the South Africa Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA), around 800 MW of last year’s new addition came from ground-mounted solar plants, the remaining 500 MW from distributed generation.

Zimbabwe: Distributed Power Africa install solar panels at service stations (Afrik 21)
- The Econect Global group subsidiary has begun solarising 15 Total service stations to reduce its dependence on the public electricity grid.

Zimbabwe: Construction of Semwa Dam back on track (Construction Review)
- Following the arrival of new dispensation, it only took a few months for work to begin and now construction is on course - reaching 40% completion to date.

Zimbabwe: Incentives offered to solar-powered car developers (Energy Mix Report)
- The country is in the process of developing fiscal incentives for solar-powered vehicles, batteries and other related accessories. 
 

Africa - general

General: Africa unlikely to meet universal energy access targets (Energy Mix Report)
- The Economic Commission for Africa has released its findings from a recent study, from which it has been deduced that Africa will not meet its SDG 7 targets due to limited supply and access to electricity.

Solar: Report identifies off-grid access solutions for Africa (ESI Africa)
- The EIB and the International Solar Alliance have published a new study outlining how to overcome key affordability and investment challenges which are stunting off-grid investment across the continent.

Solar: Grid and off-grid solar PV are essential to meet Africa’s power needs (PV Magazine)
- Solar PV has huge potential in the continent, boasting 40-60% of the planet’s total solar energy potential, and a substantial increase in power demand is forecasted for the next few years due to both economic and population growth.
 

Rest of the World

Emissions: Global emissions set to surge to all-time high (IEA)
- IEA’s Sustainable Recovery Tracker monitors fiscal responses to COVID-19 and the organisation has forecasted a surge in emissions due to the fact that only 2% of governments’ recovery spending is being assigned to clean energy measures.

Employment: Jobs in renewables fared better than other sectors (CleanTechnica)
- According to a recently published annual DOE report, employment in clean energy and battery related sectors proved resilient against the impacts of COVID-19.

General: The GECF outlines how countries can shift to less carbon intensity (ESI Africa)
- The forum’s commentary shares how its member countries, such as Egypt, Iran Norway, Russia & Qatar have taken sustained steps to catalyse their low carbon transition.

General: BloombergNEF releases New Energy Outlook 2021 (ESI Africa)
- The report unpacks three scenarios, each relying on a different mix of technologies, to achieve net-zero by 2050. The publication claims up to USD173 trillion in investment will be required.

Solar: New conversion efficiency record is set (ESI Africa)
- JinkoSolar has set a new test record of 25.25% for large area N-type monocrystalline silicon solar cells.

 

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