solar energy opportunities in east...

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Laura Dinnewell, Conference producer, Solar Media Ltd.

Historically the solar market in East Africa has been dominated by donor-led projects aimed at increasing the poor’s access to electricity as industry executives await the firming up of official government pro-grammes. Yet with the intermittent nature of power in the region, coupled with escalating diesel costs - immediate and compelling business opportunities for the solar sector are on the rise.

Power demand in East Africa is expected to quadruple in the next two decades and with the region boasting some of the world’s best solar irradiation, solar is widely expected to be a key part of the solution. Government led feed-in tariff schemes are under discussion in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, whilst Uganda’s 2013 GETFIT programme attracted 986MW expressions of interest for PV.

The private sector interest is there, yet the slow moving nature of government-led schemes has made developing a robust business model around solar in the region challenging. Kenya’s feed-in tariff scheme attracted 856MW of proposals from PV devel-opers but with the recent decision to change to an auction based mechanism, the future of these projects has been left hanging in the bal-ance.

The removal of import duties on PV sys-tems, the identification of isolated mini-grids ear-marked for solar, and government efforts to develop standardized PPA documents all however signify a step in the right direction for solar. How government schemes develop and what scheduled grid studies reveal on power requirements and the grid’s readiness for PV remains to be seen. A handful of large projects

set to connect to the grid across the region (such as Scatec Solar’s Rwanda project and Green Technology Africa’s Ethiopia PV plant) will go some of the way to providing a refer-ence for further large-scale PV deployment in East Africa

Yet outside of these government led schemes and large-scale reference projects a wave of PV systems are being installed for commercial and industrial power users which compete on their own with existing power costs.

Struggling with an unreliable grid supply or off-grid entirely, many East African business-es are dependent on diesel generators to service their power requirements. In the past decade, diesel prices have doubled with elec-tricity from diesel costing USD0.28 - 0.32/kWh; whilst solar costs have come down to USD0.17/kWh. With energy costs accounting for as much as 40% of business production expenses, and power outages costing busi-nesses heavily -reviewing electricity supply is becoming of increasing importance.

Amongst the sectors showing early adop-tion of PV systems are tea and flower farms, with Kenya’s Williamson Tea Farm and Uhuru Flower Farm having sizeable projects com-pleted. Typically cash rich and less volatile due to foreign export markets, the agricultural sec-tor not only has a power demand curve well matched to solar but also an investment strat-egy -with a preference for assets with a long term payback.

Energy intensive manufacturing industries present a second sector evaluating power closely. A recent survey of Kenyan manufac-turers revealed they experience on average 8-12 outages per month leading to a 7% loss of sales due to production loss necessitating a review of their supply. The AFD supported Regional Technical Assistance Programme, managed by the Kenyan Association of

Manufacturers has been set up to assist power users in re-evaluating their power choices.

Whilst requiring smaller individual systems, mobile network operators and tower compa-nies with a large percentage of remote base stations equipped with diesel generators rep-resent an additional attractive market for solar PV companies to target. Green Power Mobile for Africa, an initiative launched by GSMA and supported by the IFC aims to assist the mobile industry in transitioning away from diesel gen-erators to renewable resources.

Education of power users, however, and increasing their familiarity and comfort level with solar technologies and companies remains important and negotiation times for PV systems remain long.

Coupled to private sector projects or linked to government identified off-grid zones, the solar industry is also developing ways to turn rural electrification of towns and villages into a commercially viable business opportunity. The rise of mobile technologies, access to new sources of finance and development of new business models is revolutionizing the sec-tor that was once the domain of development agencies.

As European and US solar markets con-tract, opportunities in East Africa are on the rise. The global solar community’s attention is being brought to the region to not only solve many of East Africa’s power problems but also as an attractive business opportunity for the solar industry.

On 3 - 4 March 2015 the solar industry will meet with government and commercial and industrial power users at the 2nd annual Solar Energy East Africa conference taking place in Nairobi to discuss immediate and com-mercially viable opportunities for solar PV in the region. For more information on register-ing to attend this unique networking event visit africa.solarenergyevents.com

Solar power in East Africa starts to stand on its own two feet

2

IntroductIon


Kenya

Kenya lifts VAT on solar imports 4

Philips research centre to transform African ‘society, business 4and government’

JinkoSolar supplying modules for 50MW solar power project 5in Kenya

East Africa’s largest PV power plant opens in Kenya tea farm 5

Calls for Kenya to increase solar FiT or risk losing investment 6

Kenya’s FiT-approved solar pipeline reaches 750MW 7

Trina Solar joins Solar & Off-grid Renewables Africa event as 7Gold Sponsor

Kenya sets record straight on solar goals 8

Kenya energy agencies in the dark over reported suspension 9of solar licensing

Juwi trials ‘battery-less’ PV-diesel hybrid system in Kenya 9

MoU agreed for 50MW Kenya PV project 10

Kenya Power injects US$6.5 million into off-grid renewable 10projects

Solar project brings internet access to rural Kenya 11

IBC Solar donates 14.4kW to Kenyan orphanage 11

Energiebau Solarstromsysteme installs one of Africa’s 11largest rooftop arrays in Nairobi

Joju Solar helps electrify Kenyan hospital 12

Kenya 12

Changoi Team Farm, Kenya 12

Tanzania

Trina Solar donates to primary school in Tanzania 13

Canadian Solar supplies more modules for off-grid PV projects 13in Tanzania

Camco and Rex announce tender to install small scale solar 14projects in rural Tanzania

REC donates over 100 modules to Tanzanian solar project 14

Rwanda

Rwanda test-runs first utility-scale PV plant 15

BYD supplies modules for Rwanda’s first grid PV project 15

Scatec Solar to build East Africa’s first utility-scale PV plant 16in Rwanda

Rwanda in line for first grid-connected solar park 17

Rwanda 17

Uganda

Ugandan government signs deal for 500MW of solar power 18

Zimbabwe

150MW Zimbabwe solar project edges closer to approval 19

Zimbabwe Power Company plans 100MW PV facility 19

Ethiopia

US company checking feasibility of 300MW of Ethiopian 20 government PV projects

Ethiopia signs agreement to install PV systems in rural areas 20

Ethiopia celebrates its first solar panel 21

Africa general

IEA charts course to 2040 African renewables upsurge 22

Sub-Saharan Africa predicted 1.8GW renewable energy 22 pipeline for 2014

World Bank pledges US$5 billion to spur energy 23 generation in Africa

JCM Capital starts US$150 million fund for PV projects 23 in Africa and Latin America

US$100 million fund launched to invest in African renewables 24

Scatec Solar planning African expansion 24

Solar power has role in transforming Sub-Saharan 25 economy: Commerzbank

Scatec Solar teams with Norfund on African PV 25

Kenya’s FiT-approved solar pipeline reaches 750MW

Zimbabwe Power Company plans 100MW PV facility07

19

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Kenya lifts VAT on solar imports

Kenya has lifted VAT charges on all solar equipment imported into the East Afri-can country.

The move nullifies a 16% VAT rate brought in late last year on imported solar products.

The lifting of the tax has been welcomed by solar installers and campaigners in Kenya.

Linda Wamune, operations director of Solar Aid in Kenya, said: “Removing VAT on solar products reduces the cost to consum-ers and aids access to everyone buying solar products. The benefits to Kenyans and the national economy will be substantial. We will be able to reach more customers in off-grid areas throughout Kenya with these price decreases.”

However, there are concerns over the

impact the move could have on Kenya’s domestic PV manufacturing sector.

“The new tax exemption, while being a very noble idea on the surface, will have negative effects on local manufacturers,” said Haijo Kuper, managing director of solar manufac-turer Ubbink East Africa, based in Kenya.

“The vibrant solar energy market that Kenya has developed will be flooded with cheap imports. Local manufacturing has the added advantage of offering after sales and warranty due to close proximity,” Kuper added.

George Bowman, founding director of Azimuth Power, co-developer of the recently completed Changoi PV installation in northern Kenya, said: “When we started out last year

there was no VAT on solar, then it was added and now…it appears to be off again. I think this is a good thing overall as it will make sys-tems more attractive to commercial buyers, but I can understand Haijo’s position.”

The recently completed May Williamson Tea Farm PV installation, Kenya. VAT on solar imports into the country have been lifted, although domestically man-ufactured equipment will still have to pay the charge. Image: Solarcentury.

Philips research centre to transform African ‘society, business and government’

Dutch consumer electronics company Philips will open a new innovation centre in Kenya which will look into

improving African lives through research and development into technologies including solar power and LED lighting technology.

The company announced that the Philips Innovation Africa Innovation Hub will focus on research and development into issues includ-ing healthcare, lighting and healthy living. Work will be done on creating new inventions and bringing them to market.

The centre will be located in Kenya’s capi-tal Nairobi, at the Philips East African HQ. According to Philips the hub will work in close collaboration with the “R&D ecosys-tem” of Kenya and Africa, and the company claims it is currently in negotiations with local organisations and universities over R&D collaborations. The centre will also share knowledge and expertise with Philips research labs in Bangalore, Shanghai and the Dutch city of Eindhoven.

In addition to developing market ready models combining solar power with LED lighting, aimed at making clean and afford-

able lighting accessible to rural communities that are geographically unable to access grid networks, the centre will also work on areas including the development of smokeless cooking stoves which can reduce carbon dioxide emissions produced during cooking by 90%; affordable respiratory rate monitors to support the diagnosis of pneumonia; effi-

cient community care treatment.Kenya’s cabinet secretary for industrialisa-

tion, Adan Mohammed said: “We lend our full support to the investment being made by Philips and look forward to the outcomes of their Africa-specific research and projects that can contribute to transforming society, busi-ness and government across the continent.”

Community solar LED lighting by Philips in action. Image: Philips.

11 June 2014

25 March 2014


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East Africa’s largest PV power plant opens in Kenya tea farm

A 1MW PV power plant, currently the largest in East Africa, has been com-pleted at the Changoi Team Farm in

Kenya.The plant will enable to the farm’s owner,

Williamson Tea, to save on power costs by reducing dependency on expensive grid power and diesel back-up.

Built by British firm, Solarcentury and developed by local firms, East African Solar and Azimuth Power, the plant will work in par-allel with the grid, reducing the farm’s reliance

on grid power.During power outages, the solar system

will work together with the standby diesel generators, reducing the amount of diesel consumed.

Overall, the system is expected to cut the farm’s power costs by 30%.

Solarcentury said this kind of system had only been built in five other places worldwide.

“In a country blessed with plentiful irra-diance and land space, solar is a perfect solution and reduces dependence on fossil

fuels while improving energy security,” said Dan Davies, Solarcentury’s East Africa direc-tor.

Frans van den Heuvel, Solarcentury CEO, added: “Will iamson Tea’s solar farm in Changoi is a shining example of the oppor-tunity for solar in Africa, and indeed the emerging markets, to help meet the increas-ing energy demands of growing economies. Sustainable energy sources are becoming more critical especially as the cost of fossil fuel energy continues to rise globally.”

JinkoSolar supplying modules for 50MW solar power project in Kenya

Efforts by the Chinese government to provide support to its struggling PV manufacturing sector have surfaced in

Kenya, Africa, in the form of a government-approved business. Known for its municipal public works, Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic & Technical Co, Ltd. (CJIC), is planning to build a 50MW solar power project near the country’s northwest-located city of Garissa.

The power plant, the biggest conventional c-Si module-based groundmounted project yet planned in Africa wil l use modules

supplied by China-based manufacturer, JinkoSolar, believed to be on a rumoured list of between 15 and 20 module suppliers the government intends to support through a period of consolidation.

“We are pleased to be a part of Kenya’s push towards clean-tech development and commitment to renewable energy,” said Kangping Chen, chief executive officer of JinkoSolar. “As a market leader in the solar energy business, JinkoSolar will play a key role in supply Kenya’s growing demand for solar energy. By cooperating with CJIC, we

expect this project will provide JinkoSolar with future opportunities in Kenya’s solar power plant industry.”

The planned power plant is said to occupy an 81 hectare site, situated in an arid but extremely constant region of high daylight temperatures. The plant has an expected output of approximately 76,473MWh per year and be grid-connected.

Howeve r, t ime l i nes fo r p l ann ing , construction and connection were not initially disclosed. Financial details were unknown.

27 September 2012

22 May 2014


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Calls for Kenya to increase solar FiT or risk losing investment

Kenya’s solar feed-in tariff is insufficient for projects to be viable and should be entirely reviewed, according to the head

of a company looking to develop large-scale PV plants in the country.

Speaking at Solar & Off-Grid Renewables Africa in Nairobi yesterday, Khilna Dodhia, chief executive of Kenergy Renewables, said that at US$0.12 per kilowatt-hour Kenya’s solar FiT would only offer investors only “nom-inal” returns.

Earlier this week, it emerged that the pipe-line of PV projects that have received initial approval to be considered under Kenya’s FiT programme had reached 750MW over 25 separate projects.

Kenergy has two projects each of 40MW under consideration within this pipeline, but Dodhia said that, as things stand, “the finan-cials don’t work”.

“No matter who tells you we can make it work, given the policies as they stand right now…that doesn’t cover the full operational costs of the project.”

Dodhia highlighted the fact that of the US$0.12 FiT rate, only 12% is indexed, meaning that the FiT-generated revenue from a PV plant will not increase over time at the same rate as the operational costs of the project do with inflation.

“Your costs are going up, but the tar-iff isn’t,” Dodhia said. “So the big issue here is nominal equity returns – we’re looking at returns of 10% [at this FiT rate]. Would any investors be interested in project financing at 10% [return]?”

Dodhia said that at the very least, the gov-ernment should look again at the indexed proportion of the FiT: “Why not increase the indexation? This is very logical – the indexa-tion is set to match the costs you incur that increase. Let’s look at the costs and look at

what’s happening in Sub-Saharan Africa, let’s look at the numbers and base the policies on that.”

But she also called for wider review of the FiT. The US$0.12 FiT rate is based on a so-called ‘long-run marginal cost’ of electric-ity as identified in Kenya’s Least Cost Power Development Plan published in late 2012.

Dodhia said: “I guarantee you that if you review that plan, then you run the numbers on the long-run marginal cost, it’s no long-er going to be US$0.12. So this does need to be reviewed, because solar is competi-tive; we’re competitive with thermal plants, so let’s bring in solar and make it a mainstream source of power.”

Dodhia said other challenges facing devel-opers looking to build large-scale renewable energy projects in Kenya were land availability and tax.

With land, Dodhia said there was a lack of clarity over which bodies – Kenya’s Ministry of Land, National Land Commission (NLC) or the newly devolved county governments – had ultimate responsibility for land govern-ance.

“This means a lot of work doesn’t get done, because no one knows who’s in con-trol, who’s allowed to give you land rights,

land titles etc,” Dodhia said. “This is where we do need help from the government – we need those roles to be clarified, we need the NLC to be empowered so we can start to get leases through.”

On tax, apart from very high VAT rates in Kenya, Dodhia said another problem was the short allowance period of the so-called investment deduction allowance. This allows, for example, energy infrastructure developers to offset 100% to 150% of their up-front capi-tal expenditure on a project against tax – but only for four years.

“If you think about renewables, there are huge upfront costs, but revenues are pretty much fixed every year; in four years you’re not going to recuperate [those costs], your reve-nues are too small to maximise the use of tax allowance. So here what we need optimally is a 10 to 10.5-year allowance,” Dodhia said.

She concluded by saying that none of these issues was “insurmountable”.

“Where we need help from government is for everyone to work together – we need the Treasury to work with the Ministry of Energy, together with the Ministry of Land.”

Speaking for Kenya’s Ministry of Energy, Dickson Murira, a senior economist in the ministry’s renewable energy team, said the government was keen to negotiate with potential PV investors.

“What we need is more dialogue, for inves-tors to tell us where they are feeling the pinch,” he said. “I’ve been working in the government for some time, and this is a gov-ernment that listens. If we can talk to each other, I think we can get a solution, because with solar, we want investment to come.”

Solar & Off-Grid Renewables Africa 2014 was organised by PV Tech’s publisher, Solar Media.

Khilna Dodhia, chief executive, Kenergy Renewables.

6 March 2014


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Kenya’s FiT-approved solar pipeline reaches 750MW

Trina Solar joins Solar & Off-grid Renewables Africa event as Gold Sponsor

Kenya’s pipeline of PV projects given ini-tial government approval to receive the country’s new feed-in tariff has risen to

750MW.Despite some uncertainties last year over

the status of large-scale PV in Kenya, the country’s director of renewable energy, Isaac Kiva, has revealed that 25 projects totalling 750MW are now being advanced.

Speak ing at the Solar & Off -Gr id Renewables Africa conference in Nairobi on Tuesday, Kiva said most of the projects were at the feasibility study stage. They must com-plete this before being able to proceed to the power purchase agreement (PPA) stage.

However, two have completed feasibility studies and, if approved by Kenya’s feed-in tariff policy committee, will be referred to national utility Kenya Power to finalise a PPA.

These projects include a 20MW plant and a 0.6MW rooftop plant being installed by Strathmore University in Nairobi. The project

is intended to act as a pilot for large-scale, grid-tied solar in Kenya.

Until Kenya’s FiT was revised in 2012 to US$0.12/kWh, it had attracted little inter-est, but Kiva said last year the Kenyan government had received applications for 112 projects across all renewable energy types.

Kiva also revealed that Kenya was press-ing ahead with plans to introduce a new net metering policy for smaller PV systems; the FiT is only available for projects of 0.5-40MW.

He said last week the government had heard presentations from a consultancy hired to advise on net metering, and that it looked as though the policy was a “viable option” for Kenya, potentially opening up the market to more small PV installations.

The first day of the Solar & Off-Grid Renewables Africa event, hosted by PV Tech’s publisher, Solar Media, also heard presentations from Mark Hankins, chief exec-utive of African Solar Designs, the company

hired by the Kenyan government to conduct the net metering study.

Hankins said net metering was “not an easy argument” to win due to fears on the part of utility companies over the harm the policy may do to their revenues.

“We have to get the utilities to be more comfortable with the idea. But Kenya is lead-ing the way with this and I think we will learn more about this [soon],” he said.

He pointed out that the net metering argu-ment was won state by state in the US, with some 40 states now running the policy.

The tier one Chinese manufacturer Trina Solar has signed up as Gold Sponsor to the Solar & Off-grid Renewables Af-

rica conference and networking event, which takes place on 4-5 March in Nairobi, Kenya.

Trina Solar’s head of Africa region Dr Marcus Rother will be speaking at the event, at Nairobi’s Sarova Panafric Hotel.

Organised by PV Tech’s publisher, Solar Media. Solar & Off-Grid Renewables Africa

is ded icated to e x p l o r i n g t h e opportunities and chal lenges relat-

ed to the deployment of renewable energy in East Africa. The two-day event features a line up of top industry and government speakers.

Dr Haiyan Sun, head of Asia-Pacif ic Middle East and Africa (APMEA) for Trina Solar said: “Afica has one of the higest solar irradiation levels in the world. Many Africa countries already have grid-conncted/off-grid solar systems in operation to provide energy to urban and rural populations. It is essential for developing Africian countries to access to energy to promote econom-ic growth. Solar systems can provide cost effective energy for local infrastruction devel-opment, education, health care, agricultural improvement, water system expansion and so on.”

The country’s director of renewable energy, Isaac Kiva, has revealed that 25 projects totalling 750MW are now being advanced. Source: African Solar Design.

"[Solar energy] is is essential for develop-ing Africian countries to access to energy to promote economic growth." Dr Haiyan Sun, head of Asia-Pacif ic Middle East and Africa (APMEA) for Trina Solar. Image: Trina

Solar.

5 March 2014

17 February 2014


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Kenya sets record straight on solar goals

Wildly varying reports of Kenya’s plans for deploying solar energy have been dismissed by power in-

dustry and policy figures in the East African country.

Last week the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported that Kenya was planning to source over 50% of its electricity by 2016 from solar projects across just nine separate sites, at a cost of US$1.2 billion.

These claims, citing an employee of the Kenya Renewable Energy Association (KREA), were at odds with a report by the Bloomberg news service before Christmas suggesting some kind of moratorium had been placed on the issuing of licences for solar and wind projects in the country until 2017.

But following inquiries by PV Tech, both claims have been debunked by figures in Kenya’s energy ministry, regulator and nation-al power utility company.

The Guardian report cited comments from Cliff Owiti, a senior administrator with Kenya Renewable Energy Association (KEREA) claiming that the country had identified nine sites where it was planning to build solar plants to supply “half the country’s electricity by 2016”.

But Kevin Sang, communications officer for the electricity utility, Kenya Power, said The Guardian claims were “farfetched” and confirmed Kenya Power had been given no government direction in regard to a 50% penetration of solar.

Meanwhile, Lee Okombe, spokesman for Kenya’s Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), dismissed the Guardian report.

“I have liaised with KEREA and I can firm-ly report that the Guardian report is null and void. Cliff Owiti was not interviewed and so the information in that report has no basis. As of now there are no specific targets for solar energy in the country,” Okombe said.

Owiti did not respond in person to PV Tech’s questions about the basis of the report. In an email to PV Tech, the associa-tion’s chairman, Charles Muchunku, deferred questions to the country’s energy ministry.

“We are an association made up of pri-vate business. We don’t make policy, where

possible we try and make a case for policies more conducive for the RE [ renewab le energy] sector in Kenya,” he added.

J a n o s c h O n d r a c z e k , a r e s e a rc h e r o n the solar energy markets of East Afr ica Hamburg University, point-ed out that the US$1.2 billion figure quoted in the Guardian would only purchase around 600MW of solar – not enough to dou-ble the country’s current generation capacity, as stated in the report. Kenya currently has an installed generation capacity of around 1,600MW.

‘No moratorium’PV Tech has also been able to confirm that no official moratorium has been placed on the issuing of licences for solar in Kenya.

The Bloomberg report that originally carried these claims quoted Kenya’s energy secre-tary Davis Chirchir, who apparently said the issuing of licences for solar and wind projects had been suspended until 2017.

After the initial report appeared at the end of last year, inquiries into the matter were inconclusive, with relevant parties claiming ignorance of any brake on solar development rather than issuing outright denials of the arti-cle.

However, the Ministry of Energy, ERC and Kenya Power have all now issued equivocal statements to PV Tech that no solar morato-rium has been instituted.

Dickson Murira, a senior economist in the ministry’s renewable energy department, told PV Tech the report was “untrue and mislead-ing”.

“The government of Kenya recognises the role of renewable energy and [its] positive environmental benefits, and remains com-mitted to enhancing private investment in the solar energy sector,” Murira said.

He said the Kenyan government was still pursuing renewable energy sources such as solar and wind as part of a national plan to build 5GW of new generation capacity by 2017 – although much of this is expected to come from coal and gas plants.

Kenya Power’s Sang confirmed: “There is no moratorium on any technology. The only condition that has been added is for wind power developers under the feed-in tar-iff for their projects not to be within a radius of 50km from an existing Ministry of Energy Metmast (data logger).”

The ERC’s Okombe added: “We are still issuing licences for solar projects so there is no need for worry by investors.”

A recent draft energy strategy for Kenya set provisional solar targets of 100MW by 2017, 200MW by 2022 and 500MW by 2030.

Since setting a revised feed-in tariff rate of US$0.12 at the end of 2012, the energy min-istry has been inviting bids for large-scale PV projects.

Kenya’s director of renewable energy, Isaac Kiva, revealed in an interview with PV Tech’s sister journal, Solar Business Focus, that since the FiT revision, the government had received applications for PV projects totalling around 300MW.

These projects are now under consid-eration by the authorities and will be issued licences as long as they satisfy technical fea-sibility and financial criteria.

One source who did not want to be named said Kenya was “open for solar business”.

Kenya Power has not been given any direction in regard to a 50% penetration of solar.

24 January 2014


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German PV developer juwi has installed a new ‘intelligent’ control system in a village in Kenya designed to integrate

PV and diesel generation without the need

for storage.The company’s off-grid division has

developed the Solar Fuel Saver, a system it hopes will be widely adopted elsewhere in

Africa as parts of the continent that rely on diesel generators look fo r l ess expens ive sources of power.

The installation of the system on Mfangano island, in the eastern part of Lake Victoria, couples a PV plant with an existing diesel generator, allowing the solar system to inject power into the mini-grid during the day.

Juwi claims it is the

first hybrid diesel-PV system not requiring storage and is therefore 60% cheaper than battery-operated off-grid systems.

Fabian Jochem, head of juwi’s off-grid division, said: “The idea behind our

concept is to reduce the generators’ fuel consumption during daytime hours by injecting as much electricity as possible from the solar plant into the grid without harming the diesel generator. The power output of the photovoltaic plant is therefore controlled by an intelligent controller, the Solar Fuel Saver.”

Juwi said the system, developed with Kenya-based Dreampower and the Kenya Power and Lighting Company, can take up to 25% of the average load during the middle of the day, around 40kW.

If the load decreases, the PV plant’s power output will be adjusted automatically in order to avoid the diesel generator operating under minimal part load conditions.

The company said the system had “great potential” elsewhere in Africa as the cost of diesel rises and demand for power increases.

Kenya energy agencies in the dark over reported suspension of solar licensing

Kenya’s energy regulator and renewable energy department have both said they are unaware of reported plans by the

East African country’s government to suspend the licensing of new solar farms.

Last week Kenya’s energy secretary Davis Chirchir apparently told Bloomberg news that the licensing of new solar and wind farms in Kenya would be suspended until 2017 in favour of other energy sources, in an effort to drive down electricity costs.

But PV Tech has learned that neither of the two key bodies in setting and implementing renewable energy policy in Kenya has been informed of any changes to licensing rules.

Speaking to PV Tech, Geoffrey Kika a spokesman at the Department of Renewable Energy in the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, said the department was “not aware” and had had “no directions” of any changes or suspensions to solar generation

licensing.Meanwhile a spokesman for the Energy

Regulation Commission (ERC) in Kenya con-firmed licensing for solar farm developments was still following current procedures and any solar farm applications submitted now would follow normal licensing regulations.

Director of renewable energy at ERC, Pavel Robert Omieke, told PV Tech he could not confirm a suspension or comment on any changes to renewables licensing, though he would not explicitly deny the reports, which PV Tech has been unable to verify with the energy ministry.

Kenya Renewable Energy Association (Kerea) administrator, Cliff Owiti, said Kerea had also not been informed of any suspen-sions to renewable energy generation licences.

Owiti confirmed confidence in stable solar regulation in Kenya, and that any changes or suspending to licensing would “be tricky”,

because of large private sector investments in training technicians, starting solar companies and solar generation projects.

Since confirming a solar feed-in tariff of US$0.12 last year, Kenya has been invit-ing bids to build large-scale PV projects with a view to deploying around 300MW of large-scale solar capacity.

In September, the Kenyan government launched a drive to build 5,000MW of new electricity generating capacity within 40 months, with a large part of this expected to come from renewables.

But Bloomberg’s reported conversation with Chirchir suggested the government now wants 80% of the new capacity to come from coal, liquid natural gas and geo-thermal power, with renewables only accounting for around 15%. The report said wind and solar projects underway had already filled that quota.

Juwi trials ‘battery-less’ PV-diesel hybrid system in Kenya

Solar Fuel Saver, Mfangano: claimed to be 60% cheaper than other diesel hybrids.

4 December 2013

17 September 2013


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Kenya Power injects US$6.5 million into off-grid renewable projects

Kenya Power & Lighting, Kenya’s state-owned utility company, has announced its intention to invest KES560 million

(US$6.5 million) in the development of off-grid renewable energy projects in Kenya.

As part of its plans, the company will devel-op solar and wind projects in the country’s North Eastern and Rift Valley provinces in areas that are not connected to the national grid and, instead, rely on diesel to generate electricity.

When operational, the renewable energy projects will help these areas to reduce their diesel fuel consumption, helping to save around KES50 million every year.

Kenya Power has already commissioned eight solar and wind projects which have a combined capacity of 1MW. These projects are already benefiting electricity customers in Merti, Habaswein, Lodwar, Elwak, Mandera, Marsabit in the Eastern and North Eastern provinces, as well as Hola in the province of Coast.

Kenya Power’s Deputy Manager, Henry Gichungi, said that plans are underway to increase the company’s off-grid renewable

energy capac-i t y a n d h e expects the company to install a further 2 .3MW. The small town of Waj i r in the North Eastern P rov i nce o f Kenya will be t he b i gges t b e n e f i c i a r y with projects t o t a l l i n g 1.3MW.

The renew-ab le ene rgy projects will be funded entirely by the state and are in line with the government’s as well as the company’s strategy to increase electricity access in all parts of the country including off-grid areas.

Commenting on the attractiveness of the Kenyan solar market, Gichungi said: “Kenya’s geographical location astride the equator

gives it a unique advantage for a solar energy market. The country receives good solar inso-lation all year round coupled with moderate to high temperatures which makes it a condu-cive market for solar”.

In total, Kenya Power plans to install 3.3MW of off-grid renewable energy capacity. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

MoU agreed for 50MW Kenya PV project

A consortium of companies that includes tier one manufacturer Cana-dian Solar has signed a memorandum

of understanding with local Kenyan authori-ties to develop a 50MW PV in western Kenya.

Lakeside Solar, which also includes the Africa Energy Development Corporation and Eaton Cooper Solar, signed the agreement last week with the government of Homa Bay County next to Lake Victoria.

The MoU specified a KES12.6 bil l ion (US$145 million) deal for a 50MW project to be built in the area, which is said to be attractive to foreign investors.

The 50MW project is scheduled for com-pletion by the end of 2014 and will generate

120 million kWh a year to be sold to the Kenya Power Company, at an initial mini-mum tariff rate of US$0.16 per kWh for ten years.

Lakeside Solar will develop the project and provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services and commission with the Rural Electrification Authority, which was set up as part of Kenya’s Energy Act (2006) to improve access to electricity.

Zohrab Mawani, part of the consortium, and CEO of Caldera Geothermal based in Ontario, said: “Lakeside Solar is ready to work with the county to explore optimal terms and options for financing the construc-tion of the plant to enhance [and] demystify

obstacles in the area’s energy sector.”Mawani also said that a loan for solar

development will be paid off in 12 years – the Homa Bay County will then benefit from the solar project for the estimated remaining 13-23 year lifespan of the project.

The plant’s expected gross income is reportedly US$9.6 million a year, and there-after US$4.8 million a year.

“We have enough land which we are going to provide for construction of this project to enhance the lives of our people,” the gover-nor of Hama Bay, Cyprian Awiti, said.

Homa Bay was reported ly chosen because of a good overseas reputation as an “investor friendly region”.

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Solar project brings internet access to rural Kenya

Solar-powered Wi-Fi is being installed in Kenya’s western Rift Valley Province in a move to give local people easy ac-

cess to the internet for the first time.The pilot project – named Mawingu, the

Swahili word for “cloud” – is part of an initi-ative by Microsoft and local telecoms firms to provide affordable, high-speed wireless broadband to rural areas. If and when it is rolled out nationwide, as planned, it will mean that Kenya could lead the way with a model of wireless broadband access that in the West has been tied up in red tape.

Because many villages in the area have no power, Microsoft is working with Kenyan telecoms firm Indigo to install solar-powered base stations that supply a wireless signal at a bandwidth that falls into what is called the “white spaces” spectrum. Solar project will give remote areas of Kenya internet access

IBC Solar donates 14.4kW to Kenyan orphanage

IBC Solar has upped its corporate social re-sponsibility profile by donating a 14.4kW solar power system to the Lewa Children’s Home in

Eldoret, Kenya. A total of 120 solar panes and six inverters have been supplied to the orphan-age, which houses approximately 120 children aged between a few months to 18 years old.

The system, constructed in two weeks, is expected to generate around 13,000kWh of solar energy to power not just the orphanage

itself, but also a farm.The Baraka Farm operates its own cheese

production facility, requiring a great deal more power than the orphanage. The cheese and other agricultural products produced are partially sold, with the proceeds made avail-able to the orphanage. The school provides all children with free meals. Food, housing and schooling for the children is completely free. The project is financed solely by donations and

the proceeds from the farm.“In the past, we have paid around €1,200

per month for electricity. This current expendi-ture is now covered by the installed solar panels,” said farm manager Jos Creemers.

“We were particularly keen to support this great institution. It is overwhelming to see and feel how much the intense planning of the past months and have resulted in this installation,” explains Ronald Jaspar, IBC Solar.

Energiebau Solarstromsysteme installs one of Africa’s largest rooftop arrays in Nairobi

Energiebau Solarstromsysteme has in-stalled one of Africa’s largest solar rooftop systems on the headquarters of

the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya. The 515kW array took three months to construct and was con-nected to grid during the UN Global Ministerial Environment Forum on Monday; it will gener-

ate around 750,000 kWh of electricity annually.“Photovoltaics is developing into an impor-

tant factor for the climate-neutral architecture of the future. The importance of the devel-oping east African market is reflected by the level of commitment to this flagship project, highlighting solar energy’s potential and performance capacity in Africa,” said

Energiebau’s managing director, Michael Schäfer.

Energiebau collaborated with Schott Solar, SMA Solar Technology and Kaneka on the project, which it claims is the first climate-neutral office building in Africa. Building work was carried out by local contractors and supervised by Energiebau.

19 February 2013

25 September 2012

23 February 2011


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Joju Solar helps electrify Kenyan hospital

A hospital in a remote village in Kenya is now benefiting from stable electricity thanks to Oxford-based solar installer

Joju Solar and the Sindicatum Climate Change Foundation.

The British solar installer worked togeth-er with the Sindicatum Climate Change Foundation to install a 2.2kWp off-grid solar PV system. The new array works in conjunction with a battery system to power energy efficient lighting and ceiling fans throughout the clinic’s wards. The solar array’s most important job though, is to power a super insulated fridge that stores vaccines and medicines.

The project uses the latest energy efficient 245W PV modules paired with thermally effi-cient water heaters to maximise the amount of energy provided by the sun. The system is completed with gel batteries that are capable of storing and accessing energy generated from the system on-demand.

Commenting on the project, Dr Chris Jardine,

Joju Solar’s Technical Director said: “The Sindicatum Climate Change Foundation solar projects are an excellent example of low car-bon development, offering massive increases in levels of service in these clinics by improv-

ing comfort and drug storage - and all at zero increase in carbon emissions. We’re delighted to support the project, and I know our staff feel deeply rewarded knowing that the time they contribute is going to such worthwhile projects.”

With the help of Joju solar a remote hospital in Kenya is now powered entirely from the sun.

Kenya

Last year, the Kenyan government suspended the majority of renewable energy generation incentives in order to

curb the escalation of high debt repayment and investments tied up in foreign wars.

Kenya adopted a feed-in tariff in March 2008. howver, solar power was not incorporated unti l January 2010. The government concluded that solar power was less attractive for large-scale power

generation in Kenya. In most parts of the country, solar radiation is considered insufficient for grid-connected generation. Its cost is higher than other renewable options such as geothermal and hydro. Solar may be better suited for off-grid applications. The revised policy also extended the PPA from 15 to 20 years and increased the fixed tariffs per kilowatt hour for pre-existing wind and biomass technologies.

Currently, the FiT stands at US$0.2026 per kWh.

Obiageli Ezekwesili, the World Bank vice president said, “Due to the relative high costs of this technology, [solar] is intended to be used to supply the isolated/off-grid stations to partly displace the thermal generation.” The government is also hoping to establish other isolated power stations to take ranks with the nine trading centres already established.

Country/Tariff Roof-Top Ground-Based BIPV Term

Kenya $0.2026 per kWh $0.2026 per kWh $0.2026 per kWh 15 to 20 years

Changoi Team Farm, Kenya

A 1MW PV power plant, currently the largest in East Africa, has been completed at the Changoi Team Farm in Kenya.

The plant will enable to the farm’s owner, Williamson Tea, to save on power costs by reduc-

ing dependency on expensive grid power and diesel back-up.

Built by British firm, Solarcentury and developed by local firms, East African Solar and Azimuth Power, the plant will work in parallel with the grid,

reducing the farm’s reliance on grid power.Overall, the system is expected to cut the farm’s

power costs by 30%.Solarcentury said this kind of system had only

been built in five other places worldwide.

20 November 2012

5 April 2012

22 May 2014


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Trina Solar donates to primary school in Tanzania

Canadian Solar supplies more modules for off-grid PV projects in Tanzania

Solar module manufacturer, Trina Solar has donated 9.5kW of solar panels to a primary school in the East African

country of Tanzania.The 230w polycrystalline modules were

donated to the Msafiri English Medium Pr imary School - a registered non-government organisation (NGO) that teaches 170 pupils.

Due to the weak grid and poor electricity facilities, the rooftop solar installation the donated panels were used for now allows the school’s facilities to be used after dark.

Construct ion and log ist ics of the instal lat ion also required the help of Trina’s developer and operator partners, SunPlan and MaxSolar, the installation was completed in March and locals were trained for maintenance of the school’s array

“We are very happy that we can support the Msafiri School and thereby also the

education of 170 children with our solar modules,” says Ben Hill, president of Trina Solar Europe.

“This project shows in a very impressive way that photovoltaics are a reliable and

sustainable source of energy – even in regions which are not yet connected to the grid. In cases like this one, photovoltaics can even make an important contribution to society.”

Module manufacturer Canadian Solar has announced it has signed another module supply agreement with Zara

Solar, a provider of PV systems based in Tan-zania.

Under the agreement, Canadian Solar will deliver an additional 85kW of modules to Zara Solar for off-grid PV projects in Tanzania. Including this latest order, Canadian Solar will

have supplied more than 350kW of PV mod-ules to Zara Solar.

The modules vary in size, from 15 watts to 90 watts, and are ideal for off-grid projects as well as for the local environmental conditions in Tanzania, Canadian Solar states.

Modules were donated to the Msafiri English Medium Primary School - a registered non-government organisation (NGO) that teaches 170 pupils. Image: Sonnenstrom für Kisangara

Canadian Solar will supply an additional 85kW of mod-ules to Zara Solar for off-grid PV projects in Tanzania. Image: Canadian Solar.

17 June 2014

27 February 2013


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Camco and Rex announce tender to install small scale solar projects in rural Tanzania

REC donates over 100 modules to Tanzanian solar project

The recently formed joint venture be-tween Camco International and Rex Investment Ltd. (RIL) has been awarded

a tender to distribute and install solar power systems in rural Tanzania.

In a country where only 15% of the popu-lation have access to electricity, the Kigoma project aims to install PV systems at 45 schools, 10 health centres, 120 dispensaries as well as local municipal buildings and busi-nesses.

The tender is issued by the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US foreign aid agency, working in Tanzania and is worth

US$4.7 million; Camco and RIL proved to be the only bidders able to implement the required import and distribution of materials.

Camco will further encourage households in communities to buy and install solar home systems (SHS) collectively to reduce the over-all cost by buying in bulk. Camco has already introduced this “PV cluster” format to other Tanzanian communities.

Jeff Felten, managing director of Camco Tanzania, said: “We are delighted that the MCC has recognized the positive impact small-scale solar installations can have on rural off-grid communities in Tanzania. While

industrialized countries are trying to rethink or refit their old coal-fired plants, much of Africa could potentially leapfrog that stage and move straight to renewable energy gen-eration. The MCC’s award of the Kigoma Solar Project to the joint venture partnership between Camco and RIL is an important validation of our unrivalled expertise and experience developing off-grid rural energy projects in Tanzania. In RIL we are pleased to have identified a strong contractor with which to partner and Camco looks forward to work-ing together to further expand the market for solar energy use in Tanzania.”

Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) has donated more than 100 of its REC Peak Energy Series panels for two off-

grid rooftop installations in Tanzania.Currently, only 14% of the Tanzanian popu-

lation has access to electricity – a fact that a German school participating in the German Vodafone foundation’s Buddys Program wanted to change through their ‘Climate Change and Energy Production’ project. The school successfully convinced five com-panies and institutions to contribute money, manpower and products to provide its sister school in Bagamoyo, Tanzania with solar-gen-erated electricity.

“We were impressed from the beginning of the project and it was clear to us that we will support this initiative with our high per-formance solar panels,” commented Luc Graré, Senior Vice President Solar Sales and Marketing, REC. “The idea behind this project exactly embodies REC’s vision – that every

person benefits from electricity directly from the sun – and we wanted to be a part of it.”

As news of the solar project s p r e a d , t h e Lutindi Mental H o s p i t a l i n Tanzania a lso asked for a help-ing hand, and the initiative was e x t e n d e d t o supply the hos-pital with solar panels on its rooftop as well.

The school now benefits from a 4.2kWp system, while the Lutindi Mental Hospital boasts a huge 90-panel strong 21kWp array.

The off-grid systems provide the two public buildings with a stable source of carbon-free electricity, independent from the country’s unreliable grid.

REC has donated 114 solar modules to help projects in Tanzania. Image credit: REC Solar.

21 March 2012

19 November 2012


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BYD, the Chinese solar and storage manufacturer partially owned by inves-tor Warren Buffet, is to supply modules

for the first large-scale PV power plant in Rwanda.

The 8.5MW grid-connected project is being built by Norway’s Scatec Solar under a 25-year power purchase agreement with the Rwanda Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority.

BYD and Scatec Solar have already col-laborated, on the 75MW Kalkbult project in South Africa, with BYD again supplying mod-ules.

The project is being built at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, 60km from Rwanda’s capital, Kigale.

The company said Rwanda was one of Africa’s “strongest emerging markets”, given its plans to increase total generation capacity more than five-fold by 2017.

Tom Zhao, general manager of BYD’s Solar Energy division, said: “BYD is seeking to expand business throughout Africa which has the world’s best solar resources.”

In an interview last month with PV Tech, Laetitia Nduwimana, energy monitoring & evaluation specialist in Rwanda’s Ministry of Infrastructure, said the country was eyeing another 10MW PV project by the end of the year.

Overall the country is expecting to have 40MW of solar generation capacity in place by 2017.

Nduwimana said a feed-in tariff to attract further investment in solar would be finalised by June this year.

“There are many opportunities to invest. We have a legal and regulatory framework that is suitable for the development of solar. We have good resources. And a FIT is being developed and I hope it will be attractive to investors,” she said.

Rwanda test-runs first utility-scale PV plant

BYD supplies modules for Rwanda’s first grid PV project

Rwanda’s first utility-scale PV plant, built by Norwegian firm Scatec Solar, has begun test operations.

The launch of the trial production period, during which 25% of the plant will be in oper-ation, was marked with a visit yesterday by the Norwegian prime minister, Erna Solberg.

The 8.5MW installation is the first grid-con-nected, utility-scale PV power plant to be built in East Africa and is expected to increase the generating capacity of Rwanda’s limited grid by around 7%. It is located on land belonging to the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, a com-munity 60km from Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, for youths orphaned in the 1994 genocide.

With the test period now underway, the plant is expected to begin full operation in

August.Raymond Carlsen, CEO of Scatec Solar,

said: “Our objective has been to bring the

experience we’ve gained from our large projects in South Africa to other African nations.

“The PPA [power purchase agreement] with the utility, EWSA, was signed in July 2013 and the solar plant is operational only a year later, demonstrating that with the combined efforts of experienced partners and nation-al authorities, solar energy is fast and cost effective to implement.”

Rwanda is aiming to boost its grid capac-ity from 110MW to 560MW by 2017 over the coming years, so that 50% of the population has access to power by that time.

The country is formulating plans for a renewable energy feed-in tariff, which it is expected to launch this year.

Opening of the 8.5MW plant in Rwanda. Norway's prime minister, Erna Solberg, right, was joined by Fabien Izabayo, one of the orphaned youths who helped with construction work on the project. Image:

Scatec Solar.

Rwanda solar. BYD is to supply modules for Rwanda's first grid-connected PV power plant. Image: Agahozo-

Shalom Youth Village.

4 July 2014

3 April 2014


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Scatec Solar to build East Africa’s first utility-scale PV plant in Rwanda

Norway-based Scatec Solar is to build the first utility-scale PV plant in Rwan-da, also said to be the first of its size in

East Africa.The company has closed on a US$23.7

million deal to finance the 8.5MW project with Norway’s international development fund, Norfund, and developer Gigawatt Global Coöperatief.

Construction is expected to start work immediately, with completion scheduled for this summer.

When complete, the plant is expected to increase Rwanda’s total electricity generation capacity by 8% and contribute towards the country’s stated aim of increasing its renew-able energy capacity fivefold.

Located around 60km from Rwanda’s capital, Kigale, the plant will be built on land belonging to Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), a residential and educational com-munity for youth orphaned during and after Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

Electricity from the plant will be fed into the

national grid under a 25-year power purchase agreement with Rwanda Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA).

The capital investment for the project will be financed through FMO, the Dutch Development Bank, the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund and Norfund. Scatec Solar and Norfund will be majority own-ers in the solar park with project developer Gigawatt Global maintaining a 20% share in the project.

Scatec Solar is already actively involved in the burgeoning PV market in South Africa.

Chief executive, Raymond Carlsen, said: “At the end of last year, we grid connected the first utility-scale solar park in Southern Africa. The 75MW Kalkbult solar park is cur-rently the largest in Africa. Our objective has been to bring the experience gained in South Africa to other African nations, and we are pleased to team up with Norfund, FMO and EAIF and introduce large-scale solar energy to Eastern Africa.

“The PPA with EWSA was signed in July

2013 and the PV plant will be operational by July 2014, so through this project we will demonstrate that with the combined efforts of experienced partners and national authori-ties, solar energy is fast and cost effective to build.”

Rwanda has one of Africa’s fastest growing economies but only limited power generation capacity. The Rwandan government is aiming to increase the country’s generation capacity so that 50% of the population to have access to electricity by 2017. This means increasing current capacity from 110MW to 560MW.

Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, where the 8.5MW project will be built. Image: ASYV.

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The Rwandan government wants to turn Rwanda into a knowledge-based, middle-income country by 2020 by im-

proving access to affordable modern energy services. Rwanda aims to increase small-scale

renewable energy generation, and expand its grid and off-grid programmes to meet existing and future demand as well as bring social, en-vironmental and economic benefits.

Although tax breaks are available on solar PV installations the country’s feed-in tariff is only applicable to hydro power systems. However, Rwanda’s heavy reliance on hydro

power led to severe load shedding during the 2004-06 regional drought forcing the gov-ernment to drive rural electrification through solar. Only 0.25MW of solar PV is has been installed so far although stakeholders have been calling for the inclusion of more tech-nologies in its FiT programme to provide additional incentives for local developers.

Rwanda in line for first grid-connected solar park

Rwanda

Rwanda’s government has signed a power purchase agreement for the country’s first grid-connected solar

project.The project will be in built with GigaWatt

Global Rwanda in Agahozo Shalom Youth Vi l lage, Rwamagana Distr ict, Eastern Province and is said to be the first of its kind in East Africa.

Gigawatt Global, a Dutch co-op that was established by the same American found-ers of Arava Power Company, will design, finance, maintain and operate the plant. The plant is expected to be operating by June 2014 and is valued at an estimated US$23

million. The signing ceremony was held at Rwanda’s Ministry of Infrastructure.

Energy m in i s te r Emma F ranco ise Isumbingabo said: “Generation and provi-sion of electricity to all Rwandans is a priority for the Government of Rwanda. This initia-tive to produce 8.5MW of clean energy is an important addition towards closing our cur-rent energy gap.”

Rawanda Development Board acting chief operating officer Tony Nsanganira said: “Energy is key in driving Rwanda’s economic development” and welcomed investors such as GigaWatt Global in benefiting Rwandans directly as well as contributing to Rwanda’s

competitiveness.Only 8% of households in Rwanda cur-

rently have access to grid electricity, with shortages and blackouts regularly occurring. But the country has high solar irradiation lev-els.

PPA Signing ceremony at Rwanda's ministry of infra-structure.

23 July 2013

22 May 2013


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Ugandan government signs deal for 500MW of solar power

The Ugandan government has signed an MoU to build 500MW of utility-scale solar power.

Under the terms of the agreement with Taiwanese-US partnership, Ergon Solair, four 125MW power plants will be built for the Ugandan Development Corporation.

Construction on the first plant is scheduled to begin in 2014 with the full capacity to be installed by October 2016, according to the document seen by PV Tech.

Ergon So la i r has proposed us ing Jinko Solar modules and is working with Portuguese firm Martifer Solar on the techni-cal development of the projects.

The government of Uganda has commit-ted to purchase the power from the four solar farms, according to the deal.

Ergon Solair has also signed a 2000MW agreement with the East African Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (EACCIA).

Under the terms of that deal Ergon Solair will look to develop competitively price solar power for rural communities and small busi-nesses.

“Many of these communities are pay-ing enormous sums for their energy. They are using diesel generators and kerosene. Solar can be competitive and help them save between 30 and 50% of their energy bill,” Lorenzo L. Colacicchi, CEO and chairman of Ergon Solair told PV Tech.

“We’re going to be working on micro-grids. We have proposed creating small localised grids for the communities so they don’t have

to rely on transmission [networks]. We’ll be integrating some storage too,” added Colacicchi adding that they will look to use existing tried and tested technology, rather than experimenting with new ones.

The agreement will see work start on the first power plant next year. Source: Neil Palmer/CIAT.

13 November 2013


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150MW Zimbabwe solar project edges closer to approval

Zimbabwe Power Company plans 100MW PV facility

Plans to build a 150MW solar farm in Zimbabwe are nearing approval, ac-cording to the companies involved in

its development.Once permission has been given by the

country’s Lands Ministry the joint venture behind the scheme will then finalise licens-ing with Zimbabwe Electricity Regulatory Authority (ZERA).

The US$400 million project is being devel-oped by Defemme Afrique Holdings, a joint venture by local firm De Opper Trading and UK-based Green Rhino Energy.

De Opper’s CEO Francis Gogwe told local press that the farm in Marondera wold be a boost for the local area.

“The project aims to ease electric-

ity shortage in the region. It is unfortunate the country for a long time has been facing shortages of electricity. We will play a part in powering all the government departments with electricity,” Gogwe told News Day.

“It is also a platform to create employment for the local people. We will also rehabilitate electricity infrastructure in Marondera and other surrounding areas,” he added.

Gogwe predicted that construction plan-ning could begin as early as this week.

Zimbabwe currently has five power sta-tions generating an average of 1.3GW, short of the country’s peak demand of more than 2GW.

Green Rhino Energy was contacted by PV Tech but was not available for comment.

Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), a developer of power generation facilities, is reportedly planning to

construct a 100MW solar power plant in the Midlands province in Zimbabwe.

According to various media reports, the company has completed the feasibility test for the plant which would require an

investment of around US$100 million.The company wil l launch a tender

to find a contractor which will be able to provide part of the financing for the project.

When operational, the 100MW facility wil l be connected to the grid via the national transmission line.

Zimbabwe currently generates an average of 1.3GW, short of the country’s peak demand of more than 2GW. Source: Flickr/HBarrison.

According to media reports, the plant will require an investment of around US$100 million. Image: Nathalie

Bertrams.

31 January 2014

12 April 2013


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US company checking feasibility of 300MW of Ethiopian government PV projects

Ethiopia could see construction of 300MW of PV across a number of gov-ernment projects going ahead in just

over six months, after the country’s public util-ity signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a US-headquartered developer.

The uti l ity, Ethiopian Electric Power, signed the provisional agreement with Green Technology Africa, a company based in the US Commonwealth of Virginia. GTA said it had identified three regions in Ethiopia that have good potential for solar, based on local-ised high energy demand and good solar resources. Dessie, Komboltcha and Dire Dawa, the three regions, all have 115kV and 230kV transmission lines suitable for intercon-nection of plants.

Having travelled to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, to sign the MoU with EEP, GTA told PV Tech the company is now authorised to perform a full feasibility study of the three areas. According to GTA president Dereje Mesfin, it is likely the 300MW will con-sist of “several” projects. Dire Dawa, he said,

has between 220 hectares and 240 hectares of land suitable to host a potential 100MW of solar as well as a suitable 132kV transmis-sion line. Komboltcha and Dessie both have a similar amount of land available and are close enough to transmission lines or substations to be suitable for interconnection, Mesfin said.

The GTA president added that other poten-tial sites could also be identified during the course of feasibility studies. Mesfin said that once feasibility studies are completed, construction could begin after a six month period of project development. Project exe-cution would then take around two years to complete in full. According to GTA, its main responsibilities will include facilitating financ-ing, conducting technical, environmental and real estate assessments and managing the projects.

Mesfin said that from its pre-feasibility stud-ies so far, GTA has “concluded that solar will play a major role in meeting Ethiopia’s grow-ing power needs as well as the creation of new jobs from related construction and oper-

ations activities of these projects”.A recent report by the International Energy

Agency (IEA) concluded that, driven in part by proposals for large PV projects in countries such as Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana, renew-able energy could represent as much as 44% of all power generation in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2040.

30 October 2014

Dessie, Ethiopia, one of the three regions where Green Technology Africa is looking to deploy large-scale PV projects. Image: wikimedia/Asrade.

Ethiopia signs agreement to install PV systems in rural areas

Ethiopia will receive solar systems to con-nect rural areas to the grid, according to 2merkato reports. Chinese and Brit-

ish solar companies have signed agreements with the Ethiopian government to develop PV

arrays ranging from 8kW to 130kW to power rural villages.

The contract with the Chinese Poly Technologies amounts to US$11.5 mil-l ion and Brit ish Yoseph and Elizabeth

International Trading will invest approximately US$600,000. 900 systems will be installed at institutions such as schools and hospi-tals, while 1,132 PV arrays will be installed at households.

18 July 2012


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Ethiopia celebrates its first solar panel

Project developer SKY Energy In-ternational and Metals Engineering Corporation (METEC) are celebrating

the fabrication of the first solar panel in Ethio-pia.

The country’s first turnkey module assem-bly line was commissioned in April 2012 in a partnership between Spire Corporation, SKY and METEC. The installation of the factory was successfully completed in December last year at which time engineers laminated, test-ed and produced the solar panels.

SKY Energy International handled the logistics of the various machines involved in manufacturing the solar panels as well as the initial purchase of raw materials for the factory. Training was also conducted for the Ethiopian operators in the US. The final phase of training at the factory is expected to take place on February 2013.

29 January 2013

SKY Energy International and METEC are celebrating the fabrication of the first solar panel in Ethiopia.


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IEA charts course to 2040 African renewables upsurge

Sub-Saharan Africa predicted 1.8GW renewable energy pipeline for 2014

Renewable energy generation in sub-Saharan Africa could increase more than twofold to make up 44% of

the region’s generation capacity by 2040, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has forecast.

Solar PV and CSP will both record double-digit growth, collectively accounting for 12% of total generation capacity and 7% of supply in the region by 2040, according to scenarios outlined in the agency’s ‘Africa Energy Outlook’ report.

In the central scenario in the agency’s report, sub-Saharan Africa’s economy will quadruple by 2040 and its population nearly double to over 1.75 million, providing impetus for the growth of renewables in the region.

PV is expected to perform strongly, reaching 48GW of capacity by 2040.

The agency notes that at over US$175/

MWh, the cost of generating power from solar PV in sub-Saharan Africa is currently above the average cost of power from other grid technologies. But the region’s attractive solar resources mean it is beginning to gain enough of a foothold to become a serious player, as evidenced by PV’s prominence in South Africa’s national renewables programme and a number of proposals for large projects coming forward in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Ethiopia, it adds.

As well as large-scale projects, solar PV’s role will become particularly pronounced in the mini-grid/off-grid segments as it increasingly competes with diesel generation.

According to the IEA, the delivered cost of diesel would have to remain at less than US$0.50 per litre to remain competitive with PV. As this is unlikely based on today’s trends, the IEA forecasts PV to be the dominant player in both the mini-grid and off-grid

sectors by 2040, accounting for 37% and 47% respectively of power generation in each.

But the agency notes that in a region with a track record of underinvestment in energy infrastructure, its forecasts some significant implementation barriers.

To get close to its envisaged levels of new capacity, the agency makes a number of recommendations, including an additional US$450 billion investment in power sector investment and deeper cooperation and integration between countries.

“Economic and social development in sub-Saharan Africa hinges critically on fixing the energy sector,” said IEA chief economist Fatih Birol. “The payoff can be huge; with each additional dollar invested in the power sector boosting the overall economy by US$15.”

Last month the IEA said solar could become the world’s largest electricity source by 2050 with the right policy support.

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) 1.8GW of renewable power capacity will be commissioned

in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2014.New research published by BNEF on

Thursday predicts investments of US$5.9 billion will be made this year in renewable (geothermal, solar and wind) energy in the region.

That is 5% less than last year’s US$6.2 bil-lion investments, but for 2016 investment is predicted to balloon to US$7.7 billion.

The boost is said to be thanks to an increase in demand, but also in awareness of costs per MWh – as the price of solar and other renewables declines sharply, in compar-ison to expensive diesel and thermal power.

BNEF predicts the market will be led by

South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya.South Africa is predicted to lead with

3.9GW of renewable energy to be installed by 2016, predominantly made up of wind and solar. This includes Spanish developer, Abengoa’s 100MW Xina Solar One solar ther-mal project, which secured US$142 million from the African Development Bank.

Kenya and Ethiopia is predicted to have less solar with renewables pipeline of 1.4GW, and 0.57MW, respectively.

BNEF senior analyst, Victoria Cuming said that renewable energy in Africa is not new, and has been successful in places like South Africa, but “what is different now is the breadth of activity, with wind, solar and geothermal exciting interest in many differ-ent countries, and the potential for further

growth”.Although globally the overall 1.8GW figure

is not ambitious, it is more renewable energy than has been deployed in the thirteen years prior from 2000-2013.

The “joker in the pack” for the Sub-Saharan region is likely to be rooftop and other small-scale PV, which has the potential to “enjoy explosive growth” in towns and cities and off-grid rural areas, said Derek Campbell, Cape Town based analyst for BNEF.

However, the sector requires more viable financing models such as Kenya’s M-KOPA model, said Campbell. “The question is whether people in other [African] countries can warm to the idea of generating their own solar power in the same way as they flocked to mobile telephony,” he added.

13 October 2014

21 August 2014


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World Bank pledges US$5 billion to spur energy generation in Africa

The World Bank has pledged US$5 billion in technical and financial assistance for energy projects in six African countries:

Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Tanzania.

The move, partnered with US President Barack Obama’s Power Africa Initiative, was made in order to provide power for 600 million people on the continent that have little to no access to electricity.

Dr. Jim Yong Kim, World Bank group president, said: “We think that the US Power Africa initiative will play an extremely important role in achieving the goal of providing electricity for Africa. So today I’m very pleased to announce that the World Bank Group, following President Obama’s lead, will partner with Power Africa by committing $5 billion in direct financing, investment guarantees, and advisory services for project preparation in Power Africa’s six initial partner countries, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and

Tanzania. The US Government and the World Bank Group are working now on specific tasks and milestones which could help to achieve one quarter of Power Africa’s goal of generating 10,000 megawatts of new power in Sub Saharan Africa.”

Due to their lack of access to electricity, many people in Africa are forced to use diesel generators or indoor cooking fires in order to generate power. While Africa has a vast amount of resources available to build expansive solar, geothermal, wind and hydropower networks, there has yet to be much traction in establishing these systems.

Makhtar Diop, World Bank’s vice president for Africa, said: “Like Europe and the rest of the world, Africa deserves the same opportunity to exploit this green source of power to improve the lives and economic prospects of its people. Beyond building up power generators, they must be connected to the market, which calls for regional

cooperation to build the transmission network. We are working with African leaders and their development partners to create power pools in Africa’s East, West, Central, and Southern sub-regions. Those countries with abundant geothermal, gas, hydro, solar, and wind resources can feed their excess power supply into a common pool, while neighboring states with less energy and generation capacity can benefit from this integrated approach to delivering electricity to their people.”

Despite the need for aid, the PV market in Africa is slowly growing. SolarReserve’s 75MW Lesedi PV plant began operations in May, while the 96MWp Jasper plant is nearing completion. Other future projects include a 2MW PV plant in Senegal (Yingli) and a 6MW solar park in Sierra Leone.

Further details of projects that will be supported by the funds have yet to be disclosed.

7 August 2014

JCM Capital starts US$150 million fund for PV projects in Africa and Latin America

Canadian-based private equity firm, JCM Capital has launched a targeted fund of up to US$150 million to sup-

port PV power plant projects in Latin and South America and Sub Saharan Africa.

The firm has previously focused on emerg-ing markets and has funded more than 70 projects in the last five years. Such markets have been difficult to develop due to access to early-phase investment by PV project developers.

“This fund will provide investors with an attractive value proposition: the steady cash flows of infrastructure combined with the growth of emerging markets,” said Tom Heintzman, JCM Capital – managing direc-

tor, Infrastructure Group. “JCM’s solar PV projects in Africa and Latin America will pro-vide clean energy necessary to support the significant growth underway in these regions. In Africa alone, the African Development Bank estimates that more than US$40 billion annually of new electricity generation capac-ity is required in order to support economic growth, and solar PV will be the fastest grow-ing form of generation in these markets.”

The company said that the fund had already secured a lead investor and secured commitments of US$15 million.

JCM’s Clean Power Development Fund V that includes utility-sized solar projects in Mexico, Ecuador, Cameroon and Malawi, is

the main source for providing projects to be developed.

16 January 2014

The Government of the State of Sinaloa, Mexico has executed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with JCM Capital to finance, develop, build and operate a 90MW PV power plant.


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Scatec Solar planning African expansion

The company behind what is set to be East Africa’s first utility-scale PV power plant is looking to develop projects in a

swathe of other African countries, PV Tech has learned.

Raymond Carlsen, chief executive of Norway-based Scatec Solar, said the com-pany was lining up other PV projects in west and southern Africa that it hoped to finalise later this year.

Earlier this week, Scatec Solar revealed it had reached financial close and begun con-struction on an 8.5MW PV plant in Rwanda. The grid-connected project is expected to increase Rwanda’s total generation capacity by 8%.

Speaking to PV Tech, Carlsen said Rwanda was just one of a number of countries the company was looking at.

“For us it’s part of a larger strategic pic-ture for Africa. We’re very substantial in South Africa, where we’ve got 200MW. And we’re pursuing opportunities in Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana, Namibia and other countries. So we’re extremely interested in this market.”

Carlsen said the projects in these other countries were at an advanced stage.

“We are beyond the investigating stage in these countries; we hope to realise PPAs [power purchase agreements] before the end of the year.”

21 February 2014

US$100 million fund launched to invest in African renewables

The African Renewable Energy Fund (AREF), established to support Sub-Saharan African independent power

producers (IPPs), has closed with US$100 million in committed capital to support small to medium-scale renewable energy projects.

Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, AREF expects to have US$200 million in 12 months – using that capital to support a multitude of renewable energy facilities, including solar, small hydro, wind, geothermal, waste gas and biomass and projects.

The fund will focus on projects that range in size from 5 to 50MW with a cost commit-ment between US$10 million and US$30 million, with the possibility for certain projects to receiving further funding from additional investors at a later time.

Creation of the AREF was spurred by a joint partnership between the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Biofuel and Renewable Energy Company (ABREC).

AfDB will serve as the fund’s lead spon-sor, as the bank is giving US$65 million in

the form of an equity investment package as well as climate market instruments such as Sustainable Energy for Africa (SEFA) in order to leverage investments.

ABREC, a company owned by 15 African countries and five financial businesses, will likely aid in the development and manage-ment of these potential renewable energy projects.

Thierno Bocar Tall, CEO and chairman of ABREC, said: “ABREC is proud to have its vision of an African renewable energy fund become reality. This initiative, on which AfDB, Berkeley Energy and ABREC have worked closely together, is a significant milestone for realizing the potential of renewable energy in Sub-Saharan markets.”

AREF will be managed by Berkeley Energy Africa Limited, a fund manager specializing in the development of renewable projects in developing markets.

TC Kundi, managing partner and invest-ment committee member of Berkeley Energy said: “We are extremely pleased to have been entrusted this mandate by the AfDB and the

other catalytic investors in the first close of AREF. The launch of a first pan-African dedi-cated renewable energy fund, with a centre of gravity in Africa, sourcing a majority of its capital from Africa at an exciting time in the evolution of macro-economic factors in Africa’s favour, presents a propitious environ-ment for the investment of AREF.”

14 March 2014

The fund will focus on projects that range in size from 5 to 50MW with a cost commitment between US$10 million and US$30 million. Image: African Solar Designs.

Mali is among the other African countries where Scatec Solar is looking at further projects. Image: Nathalie

Bertrams, World Future Council.


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Solar power has role in transforming Sub-Saharan economy: Commerzbank

The relatively quick deployment time of solar power could help to fix energy supply issues and get Sub-Saharan

economies back on track, according to a new report by Commerzbank.

The second edition of its Renaissance in Sub-Saharan Africa research states that cur-ing the region’s energy problems could have a dramatic effect on some countries’ fortunes.

“The imbalances in the domestic ener-gy markets could be overcome by a more intense use of renewable energies, such as solar, wind and water energy, which could catapult even underdeveloped rural areas into a new age,” it claims.

“…Technological ‘leapfrogging’ allows for the use of environmentally friendly, inexpen-

sive and effective technologies, providing foreign investors with the necessary know-how with opportunities as well: current energy shortages are a major drag on economic growth,” the report states.

“Blackouts are fairly common, even in eco-nomically well-developed South Africa. Over the past several years, energy supply prob-lems have even increased because of robust economic growth in many countries and a subsequent increase in energy demand.”

South Africa’s successful procurement programme has led the way for solar in Sub-Saharan Africa but there are a number of major commitments from Uganda and Kenya and large projects in Sierra Leone, Angola and Rwanda.

24 January 2014

Solar and other off-grid renewables could trans-form parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Source: Martifer.

Scatec Solar teams with Norfund on African PV

Norwegian PV developer Scatec Solar and the country’s overseas develop-ment finance body, Norfund, have

agreed to jointly invest in solar projects in de-veloping countries.

The two organisations have already worked together on four PV power plants in South Africa and Rwanda, and now plan further projects in countries where Norfund operates.

Under the agreement, Scatec Solar and Norfund will together invest in and realise solar projects, with the two organisations tak-ing a respective 70-30% share in the joint investment company.

Norfund has a presence in a number of countries in Central America, Africa, and south and Southeast Asia.

Scatec Solar chief executive Raymond Carlsen indicated that the two organisations’ main focus would be projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, drawing on Scatec’s experience in developing projects in the region.

He said: “Our common objective is to con-tribute to the increased implementation of renewable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the project-to-project cooperation we have had so far has proved very successful. Long-term financing is the key enabler to any solar project and will reduce the risk in all phases of the project execution.

“When Norfund invests in our projects, their backing from the Norwegian govern-ment combined with the company’s excellent standing in the market will attract other inves-tors as well. With the combined efforts of our two companies, we expect to realise more projects and a faster execution of each.”

Scatec Solar and Norfund have jointly developed projects totalling 200MW in Africa, three in South Africa and one in Rwanda, the country’s first utility-scale PV plant to date.

Kjel l Roland, CEO of Norfund, said: “Norfund needs strong industrial partners like Scatec Solar in order to contribute to a

sustainable development in poor countries. Our objective is to increase our investments and this type of long-term cooperation is a prerequisite for us to do so in a good and effective way.”

PV Tech was unable to ascertain further details on projects the two organisations plan to invest in.

1 September 2014

Scatec solar module installation, South Africa. The company has formalised a partnership with Norfund to invest in further PV projects in developing countries, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa.


This report was created with articles from the following Solar Media journalists

Andy ColthorpeAnna Zimmermann

Ben WillisChris WhitmoreEmma HughesJohn Parnell Juila Chan

Lucy Woods Mark Osborne

Nilima Choudhury Peter Bennett Syanne Olson

Intercontinental, Nairobi, Kenya3 - 4 March 2015

Organised by: Publisher of:


http://www.solarmedia.co.uk/

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