Africa

The project is expected to cost approximately 47.2 billion CFA (around $81.5 million), and to have an annual production capacity of 118 GWh.

According to a UC Berkeley study, the falling costs of storage technologies will make it possible for Sub-Saharan countries to rely on decentralized systems based mainly on solar-plus-storage, bringing access to electricity to more than 600 million people.

The solar plant has been declared a project of strategic interest to fast-track construction. It will be located at the 100 MW Gorou Banda thermal power station commissioned 18 months ago.

Funds totaling €36.7 million have been awarded by Germany’s development bank KfW and the European Union. The project is set to be located in Boundiali, in the northern part of the Sub-Saharan country.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development of the Sub-Saharan country is currently seeking advice for its Decentralized Renewables Development Program, which includes an off-grid master plan for the electrification of islands on Lake Victoria and the creation of a pilot program for solar net metering.

The Accelerating Battery Storage for Development program is intended to leverage US$4 billion in new investments, and to support projects for utility-scale solar parks with battery storage, off-grid systems, including mini-grids, and stand-alone batteries.

Via an agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Italian oil company aims to increase its presence in Africa’s renewable energy markets. It already invests more than half of its budget in the region.

The Energy Project Implementation Support Unit (EPISU) will help independent power producers (IPPs) improve the bankability of projects. The new entity is being created with the financial support of the African Development Bank.

The solar plant was built by the local IPP, Meinergy Ghana Ltd in Gomoa Onyaadze, in southern Ghana. The country’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said that further IPP projects will be brought online via competitive bidding, and that solar bids will have to be cheaper.

Tanzania-based mini-grid operator, Jumeme is tendering two 1 MW projects in the Rukwa and Katawi regions. The projects are being developed in the frame of the Micro Power Economy, Tanzania Roll out program, which is financially backed by the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF).