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Ethiopian Electric Power is requesting expressions of interest from consultants to prepare or update feasibility studies for five hydropower plants. The work is being funded through the $122.5m African Development Bank (AfDB)-backed Mekele-Dallol and Semera-Afdera Power Supply for Industrial Development and Access Scale-up Project. Submissions are due by 8 March.Two lots are being tendered.

Decarbonisation of the global energy industry should mean a massive shift from conventional thermal power and even hydroelectric power to solar, wind and other renewables, as well as nuclear power, carbon capture and storage and biofuels, write Jon Marks and David Slater

Liberia’s Rural and Renewable Energy Agency (RREA) invites sealed bids by 25 October for the design, supply and construction of the 2.5MW Kaiha 2 small hydropower plant on the Kaiha River, near Kolahun, in Lofa County. The contract is to be financed by the World Bank under the Liberia Renewable Energy Access Project. The hydropower plant is the pilot project of the World Bank scheme, which is designed to expand access to electricity in remote areas and to promote the use of renewable energy, while reducing the use of imported fuel.

The Liberia Electricity Corporation has signed an agreement with the UK’s Dawnus International to carry out enabling works for the Mount Coffee hydropower rehabilitation project. Work will include building two cofferdams and the advance camp, as well as removal of vegetation and cleaning the powerhouse, and will be carried out by April 2014. The 64MW facility on the St Paul River was built in 1966 and extensively damaged during Liberia’s civil war. The government signed a €50m agreement with the European Investment Bank early last year to finance the rehabilitation work.

Kampala-based off-grid solar company SolarNow has closed a $9m receivables financing facility arranged by specialist debt arranger SunFunder. The facility used SunFunder’s structured asset finance instrument, with money raised from co-lenders responsAbility and Oikocredit.

Italian state utility Enel Green Power on 6 February announced the start of commercial operations at the 82.5MW Adams – sometimes called Aurora – and Pulida solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants in Northern Cape and Free State provinces. The two solar plants were selected in the third round of the renewable energy independent power producer programme in 2014 and have a 20-year power supply agreement with Eskom.

Securing early-stage project development financing is a major hurdle to getting renewable projects off the ground in many African countries, and a new facility aims to address this. On 4 December, the UK Department for International Development (DfID) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change approved the Green Africa Power (GAP) fund, a new facility housed under the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) umbrella.

London-based private equity firm Helios Investment Partners led a $55m funding round in January for Off Grid Electric, a solar home system provider with Silicon Valley origins. The round, supported by General Electric Ventures and existing investors, is believed to be the biggest equity investment to date in the off-grid power sector. “As the largest private equity firm exclusively focused on Africa, energy access is a priority theme for Helios,” Helios co-founder and managing partner Tope Lawani said.

Two consortia submitted bids for the Inga 3 Basse Chute project on 3 September. The bidders are Groupement Chine d’Inga, made up of China Three Gorges International Corporation, Sinohydro, State Grid International Development Company, Changjiang Institute of Survey Planning Design and Research, China Gezhouba Group Company and Dongfang Electric Corporation, and Groupement ProInga, led by Spain’s Actividades de Construcción y Servicios with Spain’s Eurofinsa and AEE Power, Andritz Hydro of Germany, Brazil’s Andrade Gutierrez and China National Electric Engineering Company.

Uganda’s Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) has appointed Ziria Tibalwa Waako as acting chief executive, replacing Benon Mutambi, who was named last year as permanent secretary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Waako, who joined ERA as director technical regulation in 2012, will head the ERA secretariat for six months or until the position is filled. Senior ERA staff had been keen to see a successor appointed from within the body to ensure continuity. Waako studied electrical engineering at Makerere University and worked at Uganda Electricity Transmission Company before joining ERA

Scatec Solar and Stanlib Private Equity Infrastructure Fund I have increased their shareholdings in the 75MW Kalkbult, 36.8MW Linde and 75MW Dreunberg solar projects. The pair acquired Norfund’s 21% stake in Kalkbult and KLP Norfund’s 16% stake in Linde and Dreunberg.

Mobisol has teamed up with West African solar distributor Baobab+ to provide pay-as-you-go solar systems in Côte d’Ivoire. A joint statement said the cooperation combined Mobisol’s strengths in provision of solar hardware and software with Baobab+’s regional experience in customer finance and distribution. Baobab+ was launched in 2015 by microfinance services provider Microcred Group, which has a network of 20 branches and 100,000 clients in Côte d’Ivoire. Mobisol will provide hardware and software, while Baobab+ will focus on sales and distribution.

The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has issued a general procurement notice for the Nigeria Electrification Project, which is funded by the African Development Bank. The project has four components and bid documents are expected to be issued in April. Component one will support private sector solar hybrid mini-grids in areas with high economic growth potential through a minimum subsidy tender. The work specifically targets 105,000 households and 20,000 businesses. Some 15 mini-grid operators are likely to be procured.

The Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy is launching its 2035 energy strategy amid continuing angst and recrimination over the failure of the first round of the wind and solar feed-in tariff (FiT) programme and doubts over the commercial viability of the tariffs announced for the second round. But while the risks taken by the authorities and private sector developers have not paid off so far, the size and importance of the market means that many investors have not given up hope.

Nasdaq-listed SunPower Corporation, two-thirds owned by France’s Total, has announced plans to own and operate a solar panel manufacturing facility in Cape Town, capable of producing 160MW worth of panels each year. The plant is a big show of confidence for the sector, and is expected to create 150 local jobs. It will produce the company’s E20/440 solar panels, as well as housing its engineering, procurement and construction and operations and management offices. SunPower is a preferred bidder for three power projects; work on the 22MW Herbert and 11MW Greefspan power plants was completed in H1 2014