Friday, 25 September

Dear <<First Name>>

This week has seen the announcement of substantial funding for several off-grid solar companies in Africa.

All in, over US$90 million has been committed to off-grid solar developers. The developer Greenlight Planet will be able to expand its operations throughout Africa thanks to funding provided by a number of institutions. Meanwhile, USAID and Power Africa have also provided funding that will enable rural healthcare facilities throughout Africa to be connected to clean power.

These positive developments will undoubtedly improve the situations of thousands of households during these difficult times.

Cheers

Geoff Sinclair

Managing Director

West Africa

Burkina Faso: Solar panel manufacturing plant inaugurated (Energy Mix Report)
- New plant will be located in Kossodo and will produce 60 to 80 solar panels per day. 

Cameroon: Government plans to build US$3 billion 810MW Grand Eweng dam (Engineering News)
- This would provide extra capacity for households and industries and allow the export of power.

Ghana: Construction begins on 50MW PV power plant near Bui hydroelectric dam (Afrik21)
- This the first phase of the project which will eventually reach a capacity of 250MW.

Togo: Tender launched for the construction of a solar power plant to power capital's airport (Energy Mix Report)
- This project will aim to power the entire airport and ensure a clean transition.

Southern Africa

Malawi: SustainSolar successfully commissioned its first containerised generation unit (Engineering News)
- The 12kW unit is located in the village of Mthembanji and will provide power to 60 people.

South Africa: Nersa determines that Eskom should be buyer of IPP power (Engineering News)
- Opposition to this has emerged as stakeholders seek government guarantees due to Eskom's poor performance and financial vulnerability.

South Africa: 67.9MW Bokomaso PV power plant commences operations (ESI)
- Up to 30,000 homes will be powered by the plant while additional development programmes will be launched in the area surrounding it.

Zambia: 750MW Kafue Gorge Lower dam to come online by early 2021 (Energy Mix Report)
- This new capacity will help end power shortages in the country.

Africa - general

General: Greenlight Planet secures US$90 million to accelerate distribution of solar home systems (Afrik21)
- A large number of DFI’s and Impact Investors participated in the fundraising, which will be of a mix of debt and equity.

General: Grid-scale renewables are on the rise in Africa (African Business Magazine)
- Larger countries such as Kenya and South Africa are leading the way in adopting large scale renewable projects.

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