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Wind and solar developer Mainstream Renewable Power has launched Mainstream Renewable Capital to raise capital for Mainstream’s existing project pipeline and future growth opportunities. The Irish company has appointed banker James McGinnis as chief executive officer of the new financing and investments arm. Mainstream has a portfolio of 9GW of projects at various stages of development including projects in South Africa, and recently announced plans to build 2GW of wind generation plants across Chile and Vietnam.

Berkeley Energy, as manager of the Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF), is seeking expressions of interest from consultants to carry out a prefeasibility study for potential hydropower projects on the Pra River. AREF is a $200m fund backed by the African Development Bank to invest in development-stage renewable energy projects. The study is expected to examine up to six potential sites, from which two will be prioritised for the subsequent phase. Expressions of interest are due by 14 June.

A consortium led by GE Renewable Energy with Spain’s Elecnor has been awarded a contract worth a combined $157m for the supply, installation and commissioning of the electro-mechanical equipment for the 420MW Nachtigal hydropower plant on the Sanaga River. GE Renewable Energy announced on 26 February that it would supply seven 60MW Francis turbines under a contract worth $87m, while the US-based engineering group’s hydro division would be responsible for the coordination of the project, including the design, manufacturing, erection supervision and commissioning of the turbines and generators, the control system and the mechanical balance of plant.

Angola has published an action plan for the energy and water sectors covering the period 2018-2022. The plan aims to raise total installed capacity to 7.5GW in 2022 from 6.4GW in 2018 by expanding the role of gas and renewables, mainly solar. Tariff increases are planned in the new year in an attempt to eliminate subsidies for the power sector. Speaking at an investor roundtable in London on 14 December, energy minister João Baptista Borges said domestic tariffs would rise to around 10 kwanza ($0.03)/kWh from 3 kwanza/kWh at present.

Electrical testing began on the first 22MW unit of the 88MW Mount Coffee hydroelectric power project on 3 December. Mechanical testing has been completed and the unit is expected to be officially commissioned on 15 December. A second turbine is scheduled to be commissioned in February 2017. All four units should be operational by August 2017.

German renewable energy developer BayWa r.e. announced on 20 June the commissioning of four solar photovoltaic (PV) diesel hybrid systems in Dakar. The project is the company’s first large solar sector project in Africa. The systems, which have a total installed capacity of 800kWp, were installed by Dakar-based Dieng & Co Engineering SAS on behalf of the government on four new ministerial buildings and on carports. Planning and supply of components was carried out by BayWa r.e., which also provided on-site support during construction and commissioning through its off-grid subsidiary OneShore Energy.

The Opec Fund for International Development (Ofid) on 4 February signed a $15m loan package with the government for the Kenya Electricity Expansion project.

Kaduna State governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Germany’s Helios Energy on a 30MW solar power plant.

The council of ministers on 12 May gave initial backing to preliminary assessments of a 30MW solar PV project in Grand Bara and 40MW biomass project in Damerjog. Engie is developing the Grand Bara solar project on an unsolicited basis, having signed a memorandum of understanding with the government for the project in May 2019. The cabinet approved the conclusions of a preliminary evaluation of the project, saying that it would reduce reliance on imported power while creating jobs and contributing to economic and social development.

Canadian-Saudi joint venture SkyPower FAS Energy has signed agreements with the federal and Delta State governments which it says will lead to the development of 3,000MW of utility-scale solar photovoltaic projects over the next five years at a cost of $5bn. The developer is a joint venture set up in August 2013 between Toronto-based SkyPower Global and Saudi renewables developer FAS Energy, a subsidiary of the Fawaz Alhokair Group conglomerate. The agreements were signed in Abuja during the World Economic Forum on Africa, along with a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement between the Canadian and Nigerian governments, which was signed by Nigerian trade and investment minister Olusegun Olutoyin Aganga and Canadian international development minister Christian Paradis.

The Ministry of Energy has approved permits for two small hydropower plants being developed by France’s Voltalia in the Middle Atlas region. The permits for the unnamed 9.8MW and 7.2MW projects follow technical approvals issued by the Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau Potable for the connection of the plants to the national grid.

Power project development seems to be gaining pace in Uganda as the government has turned to China to fund the 600MW Karuma dam, a project it previously planned to develop from its own resources. “We have begun negotiations with China to offer us credit to fund the project,” minister of state for energy Simon D’Ujanga told Reuters. “They will supply the contractor so that we don’t have to go through protracted procurement procedures.” The government signed a memorandum of understanding on 20 April with Turkey’s Mapa Construction for the 600MW Ayago dam project in the Murchison Falls National Park, while Katwe Geothermal Power Project Limited (KGPPL) has a power purchase agreement (PPA) for a 150MW geothermal project in Kasese district, western Uganda.

An initiative begun earlier this year to streamline the renewable energy independent power producers procurement (REIPPP) programme is causing concern among developers, who fear the new system might prejudice projects in which large sums of money have already been invested. Renewable Energy Development Zones (REDZ) were conceived following a request from the Department of Energy (DoE) that the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) find a way to speed up the lengthy and costly process of obtaining environmental authorisation for renewable power projects, according to Rainer Nowak, director at South African law firm Webber Wentzel and board member of the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (Sapvia).

East Africa-focused offgrid supplier Mobisol has strengthened its capital base by drawing on a new senior loan facility from the Finnish Fund for Industrial Co-operation (Finnfund). The additional €10m ($11.7m) funding will support further expansion in East Africa, where impact investor Mobisol has installed nearly 10MW of capacity. Finnfund provided an earlier senior loan in 2016 to support operations in Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya. As of June, Mobisol had installed over 85,000 solar home systems on households and businesses in the three countries, giving access to clean energy to over 425,000 people.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced a €60m ($65m) loan for Kenya’s Last Mile Connectivity project, a programme to better utilise the existing grid by extending the low-voltage network to households within 600 metres of existing transformers. The project aims to connect 300,000 households to the grid. The Agence Française de Développement and the European Union are also supporting the project.