Sixty-three PV projects to compete in South Africa’s 2.6 GW renewables tender
The South African authorities have published the list of projects competing in the the fifth round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP). It seeks to procure 1 GW of PV and 1.6 GW of wind power.
Energy transition to create 60m solar jobs by 2050
The switch from fossil fuels and nuclear will bring a jobs dividend thanks to the greater labor-intensity of renewables plants, according to a paper published by Finland’s LUT. However, the jobs dividend is unlikely to be evenly spread around the world, with Europe set to be a big winner.
South Africa raises threshold for distributed generation to 100 MW
The new provisions were published in the country’s official journal on Friday and are now in force. Large scale PV plants of up to 100 MW may be built without requesting a license, through a simplified procedure with the national regulator.
South African state lender launches call to finance PV, wind projects
The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) has announced plans to support the construction of wind and solar plants ranging in size from 10 MW to 75 MW.
Hybrid wind-solar-storage powering mine in Madagascar under 20-year PPA
The 8 MW/12MW wind-solar facility will be connected to 8.2 MW of storage and will power operations at Rio Tinto’s ilmenite mine in Southern Madagascar.
The Hydrogen Stream: GCL will use Ethiopian natural gas to feed its ammonia and blue hydrogen
Plus there is news this week of a green hydrogen tie-up in India, plans for another German production facility, and of new hydrogen transport networks for Switzerland and the U.S.
Bboxx cottons on to pay-as-you-go potential of Burkina Faso
The PAYG solar start-up, which is a darling of impact investors, has formed a joint venture with French cotton farming giant Geocoton to establish a foothold in Burkina Faso and says it is aiming to offer its solar home systems to 2 million customers.
PowerGen and CrossBoundary to deploy solar to 55,000 people in rural Nigeria within a year
U.S.-owned, Nairobi-based mini-grid developer PowerGen has already rolled out seven local solar networks in the West African country, funded by equity investors who will recoup their cash when all 28 systems are sold to CrossBoundary Energy Access.
Botswana utility signs nation’s first PPAs for independent solar projects
Two projects with a total generation capacity of 4 MW will be the first of a planned 12 that are set to bring 35 MW of solar to the grid of the Southern African nation by the end of next year.
‘Polysilicon shortage will continue through 2021’
The latest global PV industry outlook published by trade group SolarPower Europe, has indicated tight supply of the solar panel raw material is expected to persist this year but the trade body said it would be unlikely to drive further price rises.
