Friday, 03 June

Dear <<First Name>>

With all eyes on China’s efforts to secure a critical security treaty with Pacific island nations this week, Fiji’s prime minister Frank Bainimarama has told the world that "geopolitical point-scoring means less than little to anyone whose community is slipping beneath the rising seas".

It is a hugely powerful statement, and the need for “no strings attached” climate action and funding is being echoed across the region as islands battle in real time to stave off the effects of climate change and rebuild their economies in the wake of COVID-19.

As a climate and impact fund manager leading the clean energy transition in emerging markets, Camco is applying its talent and experience to help solve the unique set of climate and energy access challenges that Pacific island nations face and to bring about a brighter future for all. We are doing this through TIDES, a blended finance facility that we created to support the universal electrification of the region and help build communities' resilience to climate change.

In his recent thought piece, Camco’s regional director for the Pacific and TIDES lead, Paul Makumbe, offered an insightful exploration into why progress towards universal energy access is lagging in the region and made the case for the urgent rollout of renewable mini-grids to address the energy access challenge. Yesterday, Paul published a follow up article, this time looking at a range of innovative solutions to enable that rollout and help turn the islands' fortunes around. In the context of China’s Pacific tour and Bainimarama’s response to it, I think they are both well worth a read.

Cheers

Geoff Sinclair

Managing Director, Camco Clean Energy

West Africa

Ghana: Government to support the development of 35 mini-grids and stand-alone solar PV systems (ESI Africa)
 - The project will power up to 750 small and medium-sized enterprises, 400 schools and 200 health centers in the country’s Volta Lake and Northern regions.

Nigeria: Major brewery company transitions to 100% renewable energy generation (Renewables Now)
- Nigerian Breweries Plc has signed a 10-year power purchase agreement with Konexa to provide clean energy solutions to its breweries in Kaduna. The project is being co-funded by Climate Fund Managers and Konexa.

Senegal: 23MWp solar power plant inaugurated (Afrik21)
- The grid-connected facility has been constructed on a 32-hectare site southeast of the capital Dakar, with financing from the German development agency, KfW.

East Africa

Rwanda: Construction begins on 43MW Nyabarongo II hydropower plant (Construction Review Online)
- The USD214 million project is the first phase of the Nyabarongo II Multipurpose Development Project and is being built by Chinese construction company, Sinohydro. 

Uganda: Serengeti Energy to develop a 7.8MW run-of-the-river hydroelectricity plant (ESI Africa)
- The project, which includes a 5.5km transmission line, will be financed using a USD10.6 million loan from the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund as the sole lender.

Southern Africa

Madagascar: Ambokatra quarry inaugurates 148kWp solar system (Afrik21)
- The power plant consists of 200 solar PV panels connected to a battery storage system installed in two containers. Ambokatra is the main quarry that supplies building materials in Madagascar.

Mozambique: National electricity utility to invest USD40 million in new renewable energy projects (Afrik21)
- The new plants will be built under the Programme for the Promotion of Renewable Energy by Auction (PROLER) and implemented by Electricidade de Moçambique, in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD). 

Namibia: Alpha Namibia Industries Renewable Power (ANIREP) to construct an 18.5MWp solar PV plant (Afrik21)
- The independent power producer was identified through a competitive bidding process and will invest at least USD19 million in the construction of the Kokerboom plant.

South Africa: Scatec signs PPAs for the supply of 150MW of solar (Renewables Now)
- The three projects, each with a capacity of 50MW, will be developed under the country’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) and will ensure the dispatch of renewable energy from 5am until 9.30pm local time. 

Africa - other

Africa: AfDB to provide solar energy training across five Sahel countries (AfDB)
- The programme aims to foster the uptake of solar energy in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger through capacity building on creating markets and developing skills and opportunities in the long term.

Africa: AfDB and Swedfund partner to promote private sector participation in transmission line projects in Africa (ESI Africa)
- The partnership aims to support regional member governments in the development of high-impact public-private transmission line projects to increase transmission capacity and lay the foundation for further development of renewable energy in the region.

Chad: Savannah Energy to develop 500MW of new renewable energy capacity (Afrik21)
- The UK-based independent power producer has received approval to construct three solar PV plants with battery storage which will supply power to three towns, as well as to oil facilities.

Egypt: Government to mobilise land for the deployment of renewable energy projects (Afrik21)
- So far, the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) has 5,200 km2 of land to be used for the construction of renewable energy production facilities.

Tunisia: International tender process to add 2GW of renewable energy kicks off (Renewables Now)
- This is in line with the government’s plan to reduce the country’s dependence on natural gas imports. 

Pacific

Australia: Foreign Minister pledges to take stronger action against climate change across the Pacific countries (Cook Island News)
- The new government’s policy on climate change will strengthen the Pacific’s position on climate change while addressing various aspects of human development.    

Fiji: Environmental impact assessment (EIA) process should be used to mitigate against environmental impacts, advises Department of Environment (Fiji Times)
- Environment director Sandeep Singh said the environmental implications and cumulative impacts of unplanned developments could be devastating to the progress and economic growth of the country. 

General: (Op-ed) Rejection of China’s deal shows the Pacific will not be used as a geopolitical pawn (The Guardian)
- Henry Ivarature said Pacific leaders had sent a strong message that countries who want to partner with them must treat them with respect and take action on climate change.

New Zealand: 71% of foreign aid budget is directed towards the Pacific region (Asia Pacific Report)
- In his special report, Matthew Scott noted that donor funding had encouraged climate adaptation and mitigation in the region, but that this may not be sustainable in the long-run since it had also led to economic dependency. 

Rest of the world

Brazil: Embraer to transition domestic energy use to 100% renewables by 2024 (Renewables Now)
- The aerospace company has also announced other ESG targets, including carbon-neutral operations by 2040, the use of 100% renewable energy by 2030 in its global operations and the increased adoption of sustainable aviation fuel.

Global: G7 countries commit to stop funding any overseas fossil fuel development (The Guardian)
- Energy and environment ministers from all G7 countries have united to end taxpayer funding for oil, gas and coal projects from the end of this year. The agreement could shift about USD33 billion to clean energy sources. 

India: Country’s first hybrid wind-solar farm is commissioned (The Economic Times)
- The 390MW hybrid renewable energy complex will be run under a 25-year power purchase agreement. The tariff of the off-take contract is INR 2.69 (USD 0.035) per kWh. 
 
Iraq: Government plans to install 12GW of renewables by 2030 (Renewables Now)
- The country is keen to produce the highest rate of energy at the lowest cost and from diversified sources in order to achieve energy security. 

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