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Starsight, CrossBoundary, Daystar and Blue Camel are among a growing number of operators who are building a major corporate business as companies seek secure electricity supply, writes Marc Howard.

A presidential taskforce report which recommended that PPAs be redrawn has been greeted with resignation by stakeholders who have been ground down by years of dithering. Industry players are now left hoping the government will adopt a realistic outlook in renegotiations, writes Dan Marks

Scatec has refinanced three solar PV projects from early rounds of South Africa’s renewable energy independent power producer procurement programme (REIPPP), sharing profits from the transaction 50/50 with the government to reduce tariffs.

Distributed Power Africa (DPA) recently completed the installation of a 1.8MWp diesel-solar hybrid plant at Tanganda Tea Company’s Ratelshoek estate in Manicaland, which forms part of a wider 7.5MW solar programme across the company’s estates. Tanganda’s sites had suffered from frequent power cuts in recent years that interrupted tea production.

With EU and other advocates expressing huge excitement over the potential for green hydrogen and associated products that can speed up the carbon transition, South Africa is striving to develop its nascent industry – even while it struggles to meet existing power demand and the country’s sovereign credit rating has tanked

President Tshisekedi’s successes in outflanking his powerful predecessor Joseph Kabila gives hope that a more inclusive economic recovery is possible. But while investors look again at opportunities around the vast country, and the president has high hopes for mega solar schemes and Grand Inga, DRC remains problematic, write Jon Marks and François Misser.

While DRC locals wait for access to sustainable energy, the government is getting excited about massive Inga dam developments which in the past have attracted attention to the detriment of smaller schemes. After President Félix Tshisekedi took the African Union (AU) revolving presidency on 6 February, a European analyst commented it was “an open secret that he will be trying to use this position to seek support for the Inga III project, and beyond that for the Great Inga projects.”

The scale of the challenges facing Kenya Power has been highlighted by the release of its results for the past two years. The utility has been hard hit by Covid-19, with demand dropping while arrears soared, but its finances were struggling long before the pandemic struck, writes Dan Marks.

Mineral resources, green technology and energy security minister Lefoko Moagi has said Botswana will look to procure 645MW of new capacity by 2026. Moagi made the comments in parliament in August while presenting his ministry’s proposals for the mid-term review of the country’s National Development Plan (NDP).

The Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project (Kosap) has released KSh500m ($4.6m) to 19 companies to support wider use of solar and clean cooking technology in off-grid areas. The financing will support the establishment of standalone solar systems and clean cooking solutions for households in 14 counties that are underserved by the national electricity grid. The disbursement, announced on 19 October, is part of the ambitious five-year Kosap project supported by the World Bank with $150m.

Construction is set to begin in January on a 10MW solar PV project to supply Amazon’s operations in South Africa, after the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) approved an amended generation licence. The project is an important milestone for the country as the first licensed plant – plants larger than 1MW must have a generation licence – to use a Wheeling Use of System Agreement with national utility Eskom in recent years.

Differences over who should undertake a new feasibility study for the Gwanda solar project are delaying the signing of a revised contract between the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) and contractors IntraTrek and Chint Electric Company. In July, Cabinet approved a revised implementation plan for the 100MW Gwanda solar PV project, in which the developers agreed to evacuate the first 10MW of the project to the national grid within six months of financial close, and brought in African Transmission Corporation (ATC) as transaction adviser for the project.

A scheme put forward in August aims to supply the Man- Made River (MMR) with power from independent solar generation plants.The waterway is a critical piece of infrastructure supplying almost all the water consumed by the majority of Libya’s population, and is highly vulnerable to grid power outages. The proposal, which is at an early stage, could involve the construction of as many as 20 IPPs, each of 5MW.

Kampala-headquartered Aptech Africa has commissioned a 12MWp solar PV plant in Juba for Ezra Construction & Development Group. The commissioning of the plant has quintupled South Sudan’s installed solar capacity, which was previous just 3MWp.

President George Weah has called for the rapid development of delayed schemes at Mount Coffee and other renewable projects, in a move that could ease chronic delays in permitting and financing. The Mount Coffee projects are supported by a new World Bank regional facility.