Africa Solar PV News Snippets

Husk Power Systems raises over $100 million to build community solar mini-grids; Sturdee Energy secures COD for 1st renewable energy IPP projects in Botswana; REA & CrossBoundary for Nigerian mini-grids. 

Husk raises $100 million+: Solar hybrid microgrids operator Husk Power Systems has raised $43 million, closing its Series D funding round to build 1,400 new community solar mini-grids in rural Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It calls this as the largest-ever equity raise in the mini-grid industry. The capital raised will fund nearly 300,000 new connections with 1/3rd of these for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) and help avoid 350,000 tons of carbon by displacing diesel power generation. It will also enable the creation of 2,500 new direct jobs, the company announced. The equity funding has been raised from new investors including STOA Infra & Energy, the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Proparco, as well as existing investors Shell Ventures, Swedfund and FMO. 

Additionally, it has secured an additional $60 million in debt from several finance institutions including the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), leveraging the Series D equity funding. The $103 million funding will grow its fleet 8-times from more than 200 solar hybrid mini-grids it has built in Africa and Asia since 2018. 

Sturdee moves forward on Botswana projects: Independent power producer (IPP) Sturdee Energy has secured the commercial operation date (COD) for its 2 solar power plants in Botswana. The 2 projects are 1 MW AC Shakawe and 3 MW AC Bobonong plants. The company calls these the 1st renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) projects in the country. It had signed 25-year power purchase agreements (PPA) for the 2 projects with Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) in July 2021. Both these power plants are expected to generate more than 10,000 MWh in their 1st year of operation.  

REA backs mini-grids in Nigeria: The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) of Nigeria has announced a partnership with CrossBoundary Energy Access Assets Nigeria Limited and ENGIE Energy Access Nigeria to bring clean and stable electricity to 15 rural communities in Nigeria. CrossBoundary Energy is a subsidiary of CrossBoundary Access. Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed, the trio will construct a portfolio of mini-grids to connect hundreds of households and micro-businesses in underserved and unserved rural communities. It will enhance power supply and increase access to reliable electricity in these communities, they stated.