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Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch’s government has underlined its determination to push through long-delayed, liberal legislation by approving a new law (projet de loi 82.21) on self-generation, which local industry players have long sought.

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.

Nigeria’s Daystar Power Energy Solutions announced it has reached an agreement with the privately-held, Lagos-based Seven-Up Bottling Company (SBC) to install 10.5MWp of solar PV capacity across five of its sites.

The Zimbabwe government and Zimplats have signed an agreement that will see the platinum miner invest $1.4bn in a series of projects including the construction of a 110MW solar PV power plant. The spending programme also includes a new mine, the expansion of a smelter and construction of an additional concentrator, a base metal refinery and a sulphuric acid plant.

Financial services and property group Old Mutual Zimbabwe launched a 641kW solar PV plant at its Mutual Garden Business Park headquarters, Harare on 3 November. The power plant cost $2.5m and generates enough power to meet the needs of the company’s office complex. Construction of the plant began in March 2020, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic the work took longer than anticipated.

A major investment in Democratic Republic of Congo, Kamoa-Kakula is set to become Africa’s largest copper producer by Q2 2022, in a market entrepreneur Robert Friedland says will be “psychedelic”. It will be powered by the 162MW Inga II upgrade as developers work to better exploit DRC’s world-scale hydropower resource, writes Marc Howard

The state-owned Administrative Capital For Urban Development – the developer of the New Administrative Capital being built 35km east of Cairo – has contracted a subsidiary of the Ministry of Military Production (MMP) to install 16MW of rooftop solar panels in the complex. At the end of September, it ordered Benha Electronics Company – also known as Military Factory 144 – to implement the project.

In a further sign of the importance of renewable energy and storage to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) miners, France’s Tractafric has commissioned a 7.5MW battery storage system for the Kibali gold mine’s 74.5MW micro-grid in Haut-Uele province.

Construction has been completed at three plants that form part of agro-industrial firm Tanganda Tea’s 7.5MWp solar PV and battery energy storage system (Bess). The developments, which Tanganda has privately funded, comprise Zimbabwe’s first large-scale embedded commercial and industrial (C&I) project.

Endeavour Mining expects the 18MWp solar PV power plant at its Houndé gold mine to be commissioned by end-2022, the Cayman Islands-headquartered company told African Energy. Chief executive Sebastien de Montessus said in June that construction had started at the plant.

Demand for commercial and industrial (C&I) power projects is surging, particularly in eastern and southern Africa. In key markets such as South Africa and Kenya, customers have opted for C&I solutions that not only offer cheaper tariffs but also greater reliability than the grid. These imperatives have also prompted a shift to C&I in the West African market, where the sector has seen considerable activity this year although market players still deem it to be ‘early days’.

Commercial and industrial (C&I) solar company Sustainable Power Solutions Investments on 23 August announced a $22m investment from parent company CDC Group’s Gridworks and $18m from South African investment company New GX Capital. The transaction will make Gridworks the majority shareholder in SPS.

Commercial and industrial solar company CrossBoundary Energy is calling for more data sharing on the performance of solar assets, after finding that solar irradiation is being systematically overestimated at its sites in Africa. The overestimation is resulting in 1-2% lower returns for investors and 5-20% less savings for customers than anticipated.

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.

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.