Solar manufacturing in the US at RE+: At the upcoming RE+ event in California, TaiyangNews has partnered with EUPD Research and RE+ to host a 1-day conference on Solar Made In USA How to manufacture solar wafers, cells & modules competitively in the United States. At this event on September 9, 2024, the CTO of Solamet Electronic Materials QJ Guo will talk about metallization as the key consumable driving solar cell production. The conference is open to all solar PV industry stakeholders and will provide valuable insights to those keen on entering the US solar PV manufacturing sector. Register for the event here.
Large-scale solar projects move forward in Egypt: The Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy has approved a proposal from Abu Dhabi’s Masdar to work on solar power plants with a combined capacity of around 1 GW. To be located in Upper Egypt, in the Aswan Governorate, these facilities will be operated on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis with investments of around $900 million, according to local media. Power generated by these projects will be purchased by the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company. In late August 2024, local media reported that the Egyptian Cabinet had approved a Masdar proposal to advance work on a solar power project with up to 4 GW capacity by commencing studies for the same. The cabinet reportedly also approved Masdar to progress solar energy capacity of 1.2 GW and 240 MWh storage in the country.
GreenYellow’s Senegal projects change hands: France’s GreenYellow has sold off its portfolio of 3 operational rooftop solar power plants in Senegal to Afreenergy Solar. A subsidiary of independent power producer (IPP) Afreenergy, Afreenergy Solar will take over GreenYellow’s 2.6 MW PV portfolio that covers the electricity needs of leading commercial and industrial (C&I) customers through self-consumption. It sees this acquisition as a new stage in its growth to become a leading independent producer of renewable energy in Africa. Afreenergy currently has a portfolio of more than 320 MW of solar, storage and hydro assets at various stages of development, construction and operation in 12 African nations. For GreenYellow, this divestment is aligned with its overall strategy to geographically focus on Europe.
AIKO partners for solar in South Africa: China-headquartered solar PV manufacturer AIKO has entered a new partnership with VEERS GROUP of South Africa. The duo calls this a ‘groundbreaking joint venture’ (JV) that will ‘revolutionize’ the utility-scale and distributed solar sectors across the country. They will focus on advancing such projects leveraging AIKO’s n-type ABC solar modules, and expand the distribution footprint in the continent through Aiko Energy SA (Pty) Ltd as the operational arm of the JV. Through this, they plan to make high-efficiency solar technologies widely accessible across utility-scale, commercial, industrial, and residential sectors.
RE PPA in Zambia: Metals producer Jubilee Metals Group has signed a 3-year renewable energy power purchase agreement (PPA) with independent hydro and solar power producer Lunsemfwa Hydro Power Company (LHPC). The PPA will ensure that the total power supply needs of Jubilee’s Roan and Sable operations in Zambia will be continuously met at competitive rates to the prevailing power tariffs, starting from September 1, 2024. Additionally, Jubilee said it gets the option to secure a further 10 MW of solar-generated power, discounted by more than 30% below the initial PPA power rates. This secures its future power demands to meet its expanding operational footprint. The additional power allocation of 10 MW has the potential to be scaled further. Jubilee CEO Leon Coetzer said that this ensures that its immediate power demands for the operational expansion targeting 25,000 tons of annual copper processing capacity will be met.
$10 million for Sub-Saharan Africa: The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a $10 million junior equity investment in the KawiSafi II Fund that focuses on decentralized energy solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Based out of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, KawiSafi’s KawiSafi II is a $200 million venture equity fund to address investment gaps in energy transition, productivity, mobility, and logistics. This AfDB investment comes through the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA). It said the KawiSafi II Fund will help local businesses create and expand climate projects that aid vulnerable communities.