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The World Bank Group (WBG) has released details of its planned Access to Distributed Electricity and Lighting in Ethiopia (ADELE) project. The $500m International Development Association loan – which will support investment in the national grid, mini-grids, solar home systems (SHS) and standalone solar systems – is expected to be put to the board for approval later this year and will last for six years.

Off-grid developer Winch Energy has confirmed its funding for an ambitious solar mini-grid project, comprising 49 sites in Uganda and Sierra Leone. As Winch chief executive Nicholas Wrigley told African Energy in January, the funding, which comprises $100m of debt and equity, is for a new platform, Winch Energy IPP Holdings (WIPP).

Lesotho’s Department of Energy is inviting expressions of interest from consultants to prepare 16 mini-grids for tendering and identify a further 14 mini-grid sites.

Off-grid solar company Solarise Africa announced on 9 February it had signed a partnership agreement with turnkey energy firm Centennial Generating Company. The deal sees Solarise Africa acquire stakes in seven projects in Rwanda, two in Zambia and one in Uganda, spread across the education, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, hospitality and agriculture sectors.

Kenya Power (KPLC) is looking to install captive solar PV facilities for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers, in a move to counter recent grid defections by large power users who are increasingly opting for grid-tied solar to slash their energy bills.

The Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA) will launch a call for proposals from micro-grid developers in Mozambique later this month. BGFA will provide total funding of €6.7m ($8m) to projects over a four-year period. The projects will be developed under a pilot licensing framework developed by Mozambique’s Energy Fund.

Engie has merged its Africa business into its Middle East, South and Central Asia, and Turkey unit. The French utility said it would focus on just Egypt, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa, where it already has sizeable operations. The combined business unit will be headquartered in Dubai and overseen by Sébastien Arbola.

Off-grid solar company Solarise Africa announced on 9 February that it had signed a partnership agreement with turnkey energy firm Centennial Generating Company.

An investment by Norfund has bolstered a receivables vehicle run by Solar Frontier Capital for d.light in Kenya, in one of the first large-scale transactions for the sector. The transaction is a boost for d.light Kenya in its efforts to become financially sustainable and cashflow positive, writes Dan Marks.

Plastics manufacturer Miniplast Ltd has begun commercial operations at a 700kWp grid-tied solar PV plant developed and built by Stella Futura at Spintex Industrial Area in Accra. The plant is funded by Empower New Energy, the owner and asset manager, which sells power to Miniplast through a 20-year power supply agreement. 

UK-based developer Globeleq announced this month that it has acquired a 74% stake in Nigerian commercial and industrial (C&I) power company CPGNL. CGPNL was owned by Clean Energy Group, which will retain 26% of the company, and used equipment supplied by Cummins. The company will be rebranded as Globeleq Power Solutions Nigeria Ltd (GPSN). GPSN has a portfolio of 12 operating gas power plants with combined capacity of 58MW in the south of the country.

Brighter Life Kenya 1 Ltd (BLK1), a local currency off-balance sheet financing vehicle servicing solar home system (SHS) company d.light design inc, has been expanded to $127m following a $15m investment by Norfund.

Bboxx and French utility EDF have announced a partnership to distribute solar irrigation pumps in Togo. EDF affiliated company SunCulture will supply the pumps which will be integrated with Bboxx’s payment and management technology to allow the cost to be spread over time. Togo has had success attracting investment into its off-grid sector through the Cizo programme. Bboxx, which has head offices in Rwanda and London and operations across Africa and Asia, was the first solar home system (SHS) company to become part of the programme that aims to provide power to 300,000 households over five years. 

The G5 Sahel countries have received new support for solar generation in the Desert to Power scheme promoted by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The AfDB’s stated ambition is for the G5 Sahel countries – Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, Mali and Niger – to harness their potential to create “the world’s largest solar zone”. The AfDB aims to increase on- and off-grid solar generation capacity by 10GW, to transform the livelihoods of some 250m people across the 11-state Sahel region.

Solar off-grid developer Winch Energy has secured $100m of investment to fund its African expansion plans. The company’s business model aims to develop projects quickly and at sufficient scale to make them commercially viable, writes Marc Howard