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A solar PV and battery energy storage plant has been commissioned at Danzi, 18km north-west of the capital Bangui, according to the World Bank Group. The plant is a significant addition to CAR’s under-developed grid, which had a total of 49.65MW online prior to Danzi’s commissioning, according to African Energy Live Data. During the Danzi commissioning ceremony, President Faustin Archange Touadera lamented “the lack of investment over the past 40 years” in CAR’s electricity industry. The lack of interest among private and foreign investors is not surprising, given CAR’s long-running civil war and poor governance.

Lagos-headquartered Nigerian Breweries has signed a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with local commercial and industrial (C&I) developer Daystar Power Group for a solar PV and battery plant at its Lagos brewery and head office.

Infinity Power has signed a 20-year capacity charge agreement (CCA) with utility Société Nationale d’Electricité du Sénégal (Senelec) for the Taïba N’Diaye battery plant. The storage system will operate in tandem with Infinity’s nearby Taïba N’Diaye wind plant, which was commissioned in February 2020. According to African Energy Live Data, Taïba will be the largest on-grid battery energy storage system in West Africa by some distance.

South Africa’s state power utility Eskom has launched the Hex battery energy storage system (Bess) at Worcester in the Western Cape’s Breede Valley, after more than a year of construction work. The facility is the first to be finished under phase one of Eskom’s Bess scheme announced in July 2022.

The long-delayed plans to develop a 600MW plant on the Cunene River to supply both Angola and Namibia have been expanded, with a main 860MW dam to be built with a 18MW balancing dam. Solar PV and pumped-storage components may also be added, writes Martin Burdett.

Abagold is developing a battery energy storage system alongside a solar PV plant installed in 2022 at its aquaculture farms in Western Cape. The abalone producer also hopes to revive a plan for a wave energy project shelved in 2020.

Graphite miner and processor Syrah Resources said on 11 October that it had commissioned the solar PV plant at its Balama mine in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. The solar plus storage unit is expected to displace some 30% of diesel usage at the pre-existing diesel-fired plant.

The Lomé-headquartered West African Development Bank (Boad) has approved a CFA15bn ($24.2m) loan for the 30MWp Niakhar solar PV plant, which includes a battery energy storage system.

Norwegian independent power producer Scatec has commissioned a solar PV and battery hybrid project in South Africa, plus two similar schemes in Cameroon via its subsidiary Release.

The Cuamba solar PV plant, which includes 2MW/7MWh of battery energy storage, has started commercial operations, according to developer Globeleq.

Amea Power has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with state utility Electricité de Djibouti (EDD) that will see the Dubai-based compnay become the first independent power producer (IPP) to develop a solar project in Djibouti.

After commissioning the Motheo copper mine, ASX-listed Sandfire Resources is pushing ahead with plans to expand production, which will include adding solar power and battery energy storage capacity.

London- and Toronto-listed Endeavour Mining has started construction of a 37MWp solar PV plant, with 16MW of storage, at Senegal’s largest gold mine, as it further develops the Sabodala-Massawa resource. The West Africa-focused miner also reports progress on its 225kV transmission line in Côte d’Ivoire

The African Development Bank (AfDB)’s $50m package to develop the Dekemhare 30MWp solar PV and 15MW/30MWh battery storage plant, approved in April, was a notable exception to the position of most multilateral and bilateral financiers, who prefer to avoid Eritrean projects.

French developer Africa REN has secured a syndicated loan of up to €32m ($35m) for its Walo battery energy storage project in Bokhol, in the Saint-Louis region.