Solar

Multiple wind turbines set against a sunset sky
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Kenya Seeks to Maximise Benefits from ‘Baseload’ Renewables

Kenya’s geothermal and hydropower resources have been major contributors to the country’s success in boosting electricity access rates, but can they play a major role in meeting surging energy demand in the future? Kenya has been one of Africa’s success stories in terms of progress towards the UN global Sustainable Development Goal of achieving universal […]
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Africa and Green Hydrogen: A Perfect Match?

Green hydrogen projects could prove vital in the fight to stem global warming, and African countries could be poised to play a pivotal role as hydrogen production and export hubs. Hydrogen is a versatile element that is in growing demand. It provides a feedstock for industries such as iron and steel, petrochemicals and ammonia, it […]
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African Energy Data

Africa’s electricity supply industry gaining momentum despite crises and delays. In common with other industries, Africa’s power sector has suffered major challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in delays, cancelled projects, and new ways of working. Problems remain, but there are indications that some momentum is returning. 2021 marked a low point for new capacity […]
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Offgrid Solar Sector Seeks to Rebuild Investor Confidence

There are signs of post-pandemic recovery for Africa’s offgrid solar industry. Now it needs to lure back the investors. Africa’s offgrid solar power industry is growing but is in urgent need of further support, as the sector struggles to shake off the negative impact of the Covid pandemic on providers of equipment and services, and […]
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Keeping the Funds Flowing into Africa’s Offgrid Projects

Innovative financing solutions are helping investment to keep flowing into African offgrid renewables projects despite the difficult operating environment. Fresh funding for offgrid solar projects in Africa has been more costly and harder to come by in the last two years than it was prior to the Covid pandemic, but that doesn’t mean investors are […]
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Staying Ahead of the Curve

South Africa is making huge strides in renewables. Tshifhiwa Bernard Magoro heads up South Africa’s IPP Office. Here he talks Bill Lumley through some of the latest developments. South Africa has some of the lowest renewable energy tariffs in the world? What has made this possible? Through the competitive, independent and transparent bidding process under the […]
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Making Egypt a Green Hub

Yehia Zaki talks to Bill Lumley about the way the SCZONE is embracing renewables and its ambitions for becoming a hub for renewable energy products in Africa and the region. Eng. Yehia Zaki is the Chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE), an Egyptian Authority responsible for the management and the operation of 461 […]
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Funds in focus

Attracting institutional investors and pensions funds to Africa’s energy transition remains a challenge in a world in flux. But where there’s a will, there’s usually a way, explains Jackson Foley. The announcement of a new ‘African Energy Transition Bank’ in mid-May has highlighted the problems facing energy financing on the continent. The bank’s two backers, […]
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Not by renewables alone

How do renewables stack up against traditional forms of energy in Africa? As Jackson Foley reports, it’s a shifting picture – but don’t count out coal just yet. “Africa is not a country” is the title of a new book seeking to correct foreigners’ views of the continent. Its author wants her international readers to see Africa just as its own peoples see it: huge, varied and facing many different circumstances. Anyone who works in the African energy sector knows this already. There are vast differences between the markets in Egypt and Equatorial Guinea or between Senegal and South Africa. There is no ‘one size fits all solution’ to the continent’s yawning electricity gaps.
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Expand And Diversify: Aiim Invests In Starsight’s Distributed Generation Solutions

AFRICAN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT MANAGERS (AIIM) DEVELOPS AND MANAGES PRIVATE EQUITY INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDS DESIGNED TO INVEST LONGTERM INSTITUTIONAL UNLISTED EQUITY IN AFRICAN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS. Interview with Damilola Agbaje – AIIM Investment Director. AIIM actively manages investments in East, West and Southern Africa and has equity under management of USD 2.0 billion with a track record extending […]
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Africa Can Adopt Renewable Energy On A Massive Scale And Save Billions Along The Way

OPED BY KENNETH ENGBLOM VICE PRESIDENT, WARTSILA ENERGY, EUROPE AND AFRICA Africa’s energy future at a crossroad When it comes to building the future of energy in Africa, the decisions facing the continent’s leaders today are nothing less than of historical importance. More than anything else, energy systems are the very fabric of business and […]
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Red Rocket Leading Africa Into A Clean Energy Future

AS THE WORLD GRAPPLES WITH GROWING ENERGY NEEDS, ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES, BUSINESS MODELS, AND PROJECT DELIVERY CAN STEP UP TO DELIVER LASTING CHANGE AND INVESTMENT. Since 1999, the African Energy Forum has led engagements between stakeholders around creating energy on the planet. So much has evolved in those twenty-three years. Alternative energy sources such as hydrogen, […]

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