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Mineral resources, green technology and energy security minister Lefoko Maxwell Moagi on 4 November launched a programme allowing the owners of rooftop solar PV to sell power to the grid. The government has allocated 10MW to the scheme during its first year, with 2MW reserved for residential customers and the remainder allocated to commercial and industrial consumers.

The World Bank Group board on 17 September approved $150m from the International Development Association (IDA) and $10m grant from the Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme for the $288m Energy Access and Quality Improvement Project in Rwanda. The IDA financing includes a $75m loan and $75m grant.

Outgoing Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter has argued for increased support to exploit the potential for rooftop PV, other C&I power and solar home systems to help South Africa overcome its chronic electricity supply deficit. De Ruyter said up to 10GW of rooftop solar could be added by 2030 – but that depends on investors getting more incentives in a sector where government has previously been of limited support.

Niger's Ministry of Energy and Renewable Energies has confirmed the timeframe for commissioning 3MWp of off-grid solar photovoltaic capacity at ten sites across the country. An initial 3MWp is already operational at five isolated, state-owned thermal plants. While the 6MWp addition is relatively small for many markets, it represents a significant increase for one of Africa’s poorest countries. African Energy takes a closer look at the projects and the impact they could have on energy access in Niger.

On 25 May, Niger’s Ministry of Energy and Renewable Energies (known by its French acronym Meer) said the 1.7MW Dirkou solar-diesel hybrid power plant, with 2.8MWh of battery storage, had been commissioned.

More than 800MW of additional off-grid solar capacity is expected to come online over the next five years, according to the African Energy Live Data platform, with large installations in Chad, Morocco and South Africa. Falling costs and an easing of regulations means the financing gap with conventional power is narrowing – and similar trends can be seen in the smaller mini-grid sector.

‘Last mile’ access software and hardware provider Okra Solar has secured fresh debt and equity in a series-A round of financing intended to scale up its mesh-grid technology for off-grid projects in Nigeria.

Kenya's  Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (Rerec) has commissioned the Mageta Island solar PV mini-grid in Bondo, Siaya county.

State utility Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has given African Energy an update on the progress of procurement and project milestones for the Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project (Kosap).  Under the first phase of the World Bank Group-funded project KPLC will implement 89 mini-grids in eight counties.

United Kingdom-based developer Globeleq announced on 11 January that will acquire a 74% stake in Nigeria commercial and industrial (C&I) power company CPGNL.

German rental solar company Redavia has begun operating two mini-grids which will serve as pilots for a possible roll-out across the country. The two 89kWp solar photovoltaic and Qinous lithium-ion battery-powered mini-grids at Isenzanya and Shitunguru villages, in the Songwe region, could serve up to 1,000 households in the area. The projects are the company’s first community-based solar container plants. 
The projects emerged after Redavia began looking for new opportunities in Tanzania following the completion of its first project at Shanta Gold’s New Luika mine in 2014.

The Ministry of Energy and Water Resources has invited expressions of interest by 22 May from consultants to support the development of off-grid renewable energy projects. The contract is to be financed by the African Development Bank through the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa as part of a project to encourage the development of off-grid renewable energy networks.

Zola Electric, the brand name of solar start-up Off Grid Electric, announced at the Global Climate Action Summit held in San Francisco on 12-14 September that it will expand into Nigeria in Q4 2018. The company is aiming to supply off-grid solar power using its pay-as-you-go system to 1m households and businesses in the country over the next three years.

In the latest partnership between a European utility and emerging off-grid solar company, Mobisol GmbH and Rafiki Power (E.ON Offgrid solutions GmbH) announced on 7 March that they were partnering to pilot hybrid grids in rural Tanzania. Rafiki is a micro-grid provider which emerged from German utility E.ON’s internal start-up incubator :agile. The pair aim to use a combination of mini-grids installed by Rafiki and Mobisol’s solar home systems (SHS) to supply off-grid customers.

The Agency for Rural Electrification (Ager) invites expressions of interest by 12 June from private contractors to develop a detailed proposal for the electrification of a dozen rural localities within the framework of the Guinea Electricity Access Scale Up Project.The localities will be electrified through hybrid systems composed of solar PV power plants with storage and diesel generators and mini-grids, and will be spread over a maximum of four zones to be finalised by Ager within the tender process.