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With the proliferation of solar and wind generation in recent years, and the shift towards distributed power generation, interest in hydroelectric power as a growth market has been marginal. However, there are signs that technology developers are responding to growing demands for generation technology which is flexible and capable of serving a mass market. One major gap in the value chain, as relevant to developed as emerging economies, is identifying sites for small-scale hydroelectric generation on a scale which allows for the large-scale production of turbines.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $25m investment in the $250m Africa Renewable Power Fund, which is run by Arch Emerging Markets Partners. Arch is owned by Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital and JCH & Partners and is the anchor investor in the fund, which aims to invest in ten to 15 greenfield renewable energy projects.

Zambia’s Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) has consolidated its reputation as a significant emerging developer across Africa by finalising plans for the construction of a 128MW heavy fuel oil power plant, with some associated distribution infrastructure, to supply the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown. After a year of negotiations, CEC’s power purchase agreement was ratified by parliament in early June, and the developer expects financing to be led by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, managing director for corporate development Michael Tarney told the Africa Energy Forum (AEF) in Istanbul on 19 June.

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) invites bids by 24 May from consultants to carry out a series of studies for the development of a floating solar photovoltaic project on Lake Kossou in north-central Côte d’Ivoire. The project, with an installed capacity of between 10MWp and 20MWp, is to be developed as a pilot project by CI-Energies on the reservoir impounded by the Kossou dam on the Bandama River. The reservoir was identified in a scoping study carried out by the state power producer as the site for the first in a series of planned utility-scale floating solar projects.

A cabinet meeting on 11 September approved the appointment of Canada’s Manitoba Hydro International as management contractor and a consortium of Société Française de Réalisation d’Etudes et de Conseil (Sofreco) and AAA-KPMG Togo as contract auditor for Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique (SBEE). The companies, which were selected following a tender process, will support reforms to the utility as part of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation’s $403m Millennium Challenge Account-Benin II 2017-2022.

JCM Matswani Solar Corporation Ltd signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi Ltd (Escom) on 13 September for the 60MW Salima solar photovoltaic project. The project is being developed by InfraCo Africa, part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), and a fund managed by JCM Power and Matswani Capital. InfraCo has committed $2.6m to development and the project received a $320,000 grant from the Technical Assistance Facility, also part of the PIDG.

President Uhuru Kenyatta officiated at the ground-breaking ceremony for the 310MW Lake Turkana Wind Power project on 2 July. The Lake Turkana Wind Power project company said in a statement that between 50MW and 90MW of capacity would be ready for commissioning by September 2016, with full commercial operation by June or July 2017. Evacuation of power from the E625m ($690m) project is dependent on completion of a 428km 400kV transmission line being built by the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) using E110m concessional funding from the Spanish government and E32m from the Kenyan national budget.

Italian solar company Enerray has announced plans to develop a 30MW photovoltaic (PV) project at a site close to the Garoua International Airport. The project will be developed through EB Solaire, a partnership with a local company, with Enerray to act as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor. Initial permits for the greenfield project have been secured, and the Cameroon authorities have approved the 70-hectare site identified by the company for the PV array. Enerray is owned by Gruppo Maccaferri through the holding company Seci Holding.

A new investor consortium plans to develop a series of small-scale distributed renewable energy projects in the southern Morogoro region. Kastan Mining announced on 26 May that it had entered into a consortium with Indonesia-based Continental Energy Corporation, Pan African Management and Development Company (Panafra), a US-based infrastructure fund and asset manager, and local energy group, Kitonga Power Electric Company (Kepoco), to form Ruaha River Power Company. Kastan Mining chief executive John Tate told African Energy that Dar es Salaam-based Ruaha Power aimed to supply green electricity to “underserved rural communities in countries around the Indian Ocean Rim”.

The city of Fes has started generating over 1MW of electricity from a biogas plant at an innovative landfill facility developed by the US’ Edgeboro International and local partners. The group has a 20-year waste disposal contract and has negotiated contracts to supply power to local utility Régie Autonome Intercommunale de Distribution d’Eau et d’Electricité de la Wilaya de Fès (Radeef). The US/local grouping began their co-operation with the City of Fes – seen in Morocco as a model for African urban waste management – in 2001. With environmental engineers Sadat Associates, Edgeboro drew up a comprehensive waste management plan for the historic city, which was supported by the US Trade and Development Agency.

Joule Africa has received a $500,000 grant from the Private Infrastructure Development Group’s Technical Assistance Facility to help finance the final stage of feasibility studies for the 283MW Kpep hydropower project, including part of the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA). “This funding comes at an exciting time for the Kpep project, which has recently been identified as a priority power project for the country by the government of Cameroon.

France’s Innovation Energie Développement, the managing entity of the Green Mini Grid (GMG) project in Kenya, has invited expressions of interest from consultants by 30 April to support the Kenya Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) in developing the country’s mini-grid sector. The GMG Facility Kenya commenced in 2016 and is funded by the UK Department for International Development and the EU Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund, and implemented by the French Development Agency.

Rehabilitation work on the Kariba Dam is expected to start in May after Zimbabwe and Zambia signed a $294.2m financing deal with the European Union and World Bank in mid February. The project, which is also funded by the Swedish government and African Development Bank (AfDB) through a mix of loans and grants, entails reshaping the dam’s plunge pool and refurbishing the six spillway gates.

South Africa’s first private equity clean energy fund, the Evolution One Fund, raised $56m from offshore investors in 2008 and says it is now seeking projects to invest in.

The New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) invites prequalification applications by 18 March from consultants to assist with the preparation of a grid-connected 50MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Zafarana. The contract will require the preparation of tender documents for the selection of an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor, technical and financial evaluation of the offers, supervision during construction and operation and maintenance (O&M) supervision during the warranty period.