Zinc miner goes solar as African Development Bank pushes off-grid finance
A business based at a Namibian mine has signed a 15-year power purchase agreement which will back the construction of a 5.4MW solar project. Elsewhere, the AfDB wants to roll-out solar panels to provide electricity access to six million people across six nations over the next six years.
Nigerian mini-grid program appears to have been scaled back
An initial intent to commission 28 local solar-plus-storage networks has now been stated as comprising “around 20” mini-grids, with delivery expected this year, rather than by the middle of the year.
Rising electricity bills in Nigeria drive demand for solar
Commercial and industrial PV installer Starsight Energy says business is on the up thanks to rising wholesale energy costs in the country.
Net metering would offer a solar rooftop alternative to uneconomic Kenyan utilities
Commercial and industrial clients across the continent are turning to solar amid fears ever more cash-strapped conventional electricity companies will be unable to invest in their creaking grids, an online event has heard.
Botswana-Namibia green hydrogen project expands to 5GW
The raised ambition of an already huge renewables-powered hydrogen project in the Southern African nations vividly demonstrates the hydrogen and clean energy potential of a continent which accounted for just 0.5% of the world’s new solar capacity last year, according to trade body AFSIA’s annual report.
Large-scale PV could improve voltage of weak grids in Nigeria
Researchers have discovered that large-scale PV arrays could enhance the voltage stability of northern Nigeria’s electricity grid.
‘No limit to the number of mini grids which can be installed in Nigeria’
U.S.-based Husk Power Systems has installed six solar mini-grids in the West African nation and aims to build more than 500 by 2026 with the help of World Bank funding.
Cheaper wholesale solar equipment through $10m group-buying fund in Nigeria
Two investors backed by the charitable foundations set up by energy giants have seed-funded the cash pot to lend to African solar companies, who will be able to buy solar kit cheaper thanks to the economies of scale offered by the aggregation of orders.
Soft drinks business wants to be biggest industrial solar user in Nigeria
An initial 1.44 MW of solar panels this year appears to have impressed the Seven-Up Bottling Company sufficiently to persuade the business to opt for another 10.5 MW of arrays on its factories.
Nigeria franchising out sections of power distribution network
The move will encourage private sector renewables companies to be part of the national energy industry, a representative of the regulator told a recent webinar which considered how to accelerate clean energy roll-out in Africa.
