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Off-grid developers at the Africa Investment Exchange (AIX): Nairobi event on 2-3 October are approaching trends towards greater regulation of the sector with caution. Many African countries are putting in place regulation intended to both aid developers and protect customers, with mixed results. In Tanzania, the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority has been exploring issues for mini-grids around high tariffs, licensing and grid arrival. The regulator has devised what it considers an efficient approval process, whereby mini-grid developers input their costs into a tariff model and the tariff is automatically calculated.

Construction is due to start by year-end on a $38m project to add a solar PV-battery system to the existing power plant at B2Gold Corporation’s Fekola gold mine. Germany’s Suntrace GmbH and BayWa r.e. GmbH completed a preliminary study earlier this year and are providing technical support to the project, which is due for completion in August 2020.

Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the US’ Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and Rubitec Nigeria Ltd to look at supplying some of its customers using mini-grids. BEDC will identify sites for solar-powered mini-grids within its licence area which will be built by Rubitec. RMI will advise on implementation. The mini-grids will target areas where the grid does not currently extend or where the network is particularly weak.

The Ministry of Energy plans to recruit a consultant to help draw up a green mini-grid policy. The project has financial and technical support from the African Development Bank through the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa. The project aims to help improve access to clean, sustainable and affordable energy for all Nigerien households. It will define a policy and regulatory framework to promote and stimulate private investment in order to double the capacity of existing systems or to install new renewable mini-grids.

Eni Tunisia inaugurated a new 5MWp off-grid solar PV plant at the Adam oil concession in Tataouine governorate on 11 December. The plant, built under a cooperation agreement with Entreprise Tunisienne d’Activités Pétrolières, includes a 2.2MWp/1.5MWh storage battery system that will facilitate integration with existing gas turbines. Work is also under way under the cooperation agreement to build a 10MWp PV plant in Tataouine city, which will supply the grid.

UK-based Solarcentury announced in late March that it had completed two rural mini-grids at Areza (1.25MWp) and Maidma (1MWp). The mini-grids use solar photovoltaic modules with Tesla lithium batteries and back-up diesel generators from Caterpillar. Construction took eight months and the grids will now be operated by the Eritrean Electricity Company, whose staff have been trained by Solarcentury.

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Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency (REA) is inviting expressions of interest from renewable energy developers interested in applying for grants from the Rural Electrification Fund. The purpose of the grants is to support projects targeting remote or underserved communities which would not be economically viable without grant funding.

German solar developer SunEQ announced on 18 June that it has reached financial close with the Development Bank of Namibia for a 5MW solar PV project at the Ohorongo Cement factory in the Otjozondjupa region. The plant will comprise approximately 20,000 crystalline silicon modules mounted on single-axis trackers and the developer says it will be the first utility-scale project in Namibia to generate solar power for industrial use.

South Africa’s Bushveld Energy is developing a 1MW mini-grid solar-battery project at the group’s vanadium mine 8km north-east of Brits in North West province which aims to demonstrate the financial, economic and environmental benefits of vanadium batteries. The project was expected to come online later this year, but the company is still awaiting environmental impact assessment approval following the completion of grid connection and geotechnical studies. The Covid-19 pandemic is slowing the process, making commissioning in 2020 unlikely, Bushveld Energy chief executive Mikhail Nikomarov told African Energy in an interview.

CrossBoundary Energy Ghana (CBE) announced on 15 February the entry into commercial service of a 400KWp rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) plant at a bottling facility in Accra owned by local beverages producer Kasapreko. The installation is Ghana’s first power purchase agreement (PPA)-financed solar plant for a commercial customer, according to CrossBoundary Energy, an investment fund that finances off-grid solar rooftop projects for companies in Africa.

The UN Conference on Climate Change (COP21), expected to run until 11 December, will officially involve 196 parties in its heavily secured Paris-Le Bourget site. While leaders, presided over by French President François Hollande and foreign minister Laurent Fabius, leave their officials to negotiate a global agreement to restrict carbon emissions, COP21 will also see a welter of new initiatives to promote renewable generation, energy access and improved efficiency in sub-Saharan Africa. Distributed, off-grid projects will play a significant role, as donors have come to recognise that insolvent national utilities are incapable of providing access to rural and peri-urban populations for decades to come.

US solar developer Renewvia Energy will commission three solar and battery-powered micro-grids on islands in Lake Victoria over the next six months, providing power for around 4,000 homes and businesses. A system on Ringiti island in Homa Bay is likely to begin operating this month and another on Ndeda island in Siaya county in May. The final grid on Mahanga island, also in Siaya county, will come online around July.

French utility Engie announced on 18 February that it is now supplying decentralised power to more than 4m people across nine countries in Africa. Engie has embarked on a significant acquisition drive with Fenix International, Mobisol and PowerCorner in recent years to build a business that covers the full spectrum of decentralised household power supply. Engie has subsidiaries in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

ARCH Emerging Markets Partners Limited’s Africa Renewable Power Fund (ARPF) has made its first investment since its launch in 2019. Further transactions are expected in Q2, barring delays resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. ARPF will invest $16.5m in commercial and industrial (C&I) solar company CrossBoundary Energy (CBE) to support the expansion of its operations. ARCH is the first institutional investor in CBE, which was the first fund established to finance commercial solar systems specifically in Africa.