The German government has announced an investment of $115.7 million to expedite the development of renewable energy across Africa. The capital will be invested through the African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA).
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Xlinks, a British company, is building a 10.5 GW solar-plus-wind project in Morocco, along with a battery storage facility, that will supply 3.6 GW of renewable energy to the UK via subsea cables. It will be located in Guelmim Oued Noun, a renewable energy-rich region of Morocco, and will span an area of 1,500km square, with 3,800km of HVDC subsea cables connecting it exclusively to Great Britain.
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The energy ministry of Algeria has announced its plans to invite tenders for the deployment of 1 GW of solar energy projects. The tender is expected to be launched by the end of October 2021. The tender is likely to conclude with prices ranging from DZD 5 per kWh to DZD 7 per kWh.
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Improving energy access now will lift Africa’s socio-economic activities, alleviate the impacts of climate change and help ensure sustainable energy security for all in the future. Africa’s sustainable path in securing its future energy needs is reliant on strong commitments and practical implementation of funding. This will improve energy access and accelerate cleaner energy solutions that will reduce the climatic shocks to the region.
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Morocco’s first floating photovoltaic power plant is set to be installed in the region of Sidi Slimane in the coming weeks. The plant will be the first of its kind in Africa, and it will be built by Energy Handle, a company that specialises in renewable and green energy, and will use photovoltaic technology. The plant is expected to produce 360 KW in its initial phase, with a total yearly production of roughly 644 MWh, with 800 panels.
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Recently, the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings has published a policy brief titled “Greening the AfCFTA: It is not too late.” Environmental sustainability is a key component of Africa’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. Yet, the recently launched African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) contains only minimal references to the environment. The policy brief, thus, highlights various ways in which State Parties can strengthen the linkages between the AfCFTA and the environment, with a focus on concrete approaches and strategies.
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The Power Statistics Pocketbook for Selected African Countries was prepared by the Economic andSocial Statistics Division of the Statistics Department (ECST) of the African Development Bank in close collaboration with Energy Financial Solutions, Policy and Regulation Department. This Pocketbook represents the end of this cycle of data collection, verification and publication. The selection of 16 African countries for the power survey was chosen to serve as a representative sample.
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The Greefspan II solar photovoltaic power plant is the newest addition to South Africa’s operational commercial solar plants. It is located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The project has been established under a partnership between the fund manager African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), the Spanish company TSK and South Africa’s Umbono Energy Partners. The total capacity of the plant is 63.2 MW, with roughly 188,822 photovoltaic modules installed.
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Ethiopia has announced plans to invest $40 billion in the construction of new renewable energy infrastructure over the next 10 years. Electricity will largely be generated from hydroelectric, wind, solar, and geothermal power facilities and will be exported to other East African countries.
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The research project “Catalyzing investment for energy access: Making the case for change” was conducted by Power for All and supported by Energise Africa’s scale up funding from P4G. The report examines Ethiopia’s access to electricity challenge, benchmarking the country’s power sector to six regional peers: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
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South African electricity public utility, Eskom has launched a Renewable Energy Tariff pilot programme to engage with businesses who need to meet their renewable energy commitments. The programme aims to source clean electricity supply to Eskoms customers, with up to 100 per cent supply from renewable sources. This would enable businesses to meet their clean energy targets, without entering into long-term Power Purchase Agreements or investing capital in their own renewable energy generators.
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Green bond issuance in South Africa has been patchy with strong issuance early on followed by small volumes in the intervening years and a bumper year in 2019. Encouragingly, there has been a good diversification of issuers including banks and cities. Supportive regulation is critical and can take the form of direct support for green bonds (subsidies etc.) or, more importantly for the energy sector, through strong and consistent policy support across planning, finance, procurement and energy.
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This study by the International Renewable Energy Agency seeks to map suitable areas in Burkina Faso for deploying utility-scale solar PV and wind power projects. This report provides insights on the country’s potential to adopt solar PV and wind power; information on potential areas to explore in national grid infrastructure planning; and input for high-level policy models to ensure universal electricity supply and support for the long-term abatement of climate change.
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Swedish Investor Trine has announced an investment of Euro 5 million in Solarise Africa, a South African commercial solar leasing firm. The first round of debt financing, amounting to Euro 800,000 will finance five solar projects in the regions of Nairobi and Lake Victoria (Kenya) and in Johannesburg and Polokwane (South Africa).
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The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum of Sudan has announced a call for expressions of interest from consultants to support the deployment of 1,170 solar-powered irrigation pumps across two states of the country. The pumps will be installed on farms in North Kordofan, in the center of the East African nation, and further south in the West Kordofan region. The last date to apply for consultants is September 14, 2021.
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Over the last few years, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has placed emphasis on the off-grid component of energy access by funding important pilot projects for the development of mini-grids and for the distribution of Solar Home Systems (SHS) through the EIB Off grid Solar Programme, which has been successful in East and Central Africa. The European Investment Bank, in collaboration with the International Solar Alliance, commissioned this study by Dalberg Global Development Advisors to determine the economic and commercial feasibility for enhancing off-grid solar in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA).
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Botswana has considerable unexploited renewable energy potential, especially as solar, wind and bioenergy and aims to use these renewables to achieve economic energy security and independence. Botswana announced at the end of 2020 that renewable energy would account for at least 15% of the country’s energy mix by 2030, with 50% renewable energy contribution to the energy mix by March 2036.
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South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has received 102 bids for 2.6 GW of renewable energy projects. Of the bids received, 63 were for solar projects while 39 were for wind projects. The announcement follows South Africa’s fifth renewable energy tender, floated in March 2021 for 2.6 GW of clean energy projects.
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Germany’s Siemens Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) to jointly develop a hydrogen-based industry in Egypt with the capability for export. The agreement builds on a memorandum of intent signed in January by Siemens Energy and EEHC and it lays the groundwork for long-term collaboration to scale up Egypt’s hydrogen-based sector.
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Plans to build out its hydrogen production capacity will hold significant upside potential for Egypt’s domestic electricity consumption over the coming years. In early July 2021, Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker announced plans for the government to invest USD4bn into the construction of a green hydrogen production plant, which will use renewable electricity to power electrolysers. While the plans were not discussed in further detail, the government’s commitment to establish a large-scale green hydrogen project highlights its long-term commitment to energy transition.
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