Page 12 - AfrElec Week 06

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
SOLAR
ENGIE to enter Togo solar kit market
Fenix International (acquired by French
firm ENGIE in April 2018), Moon (solar kit supplier), and Solergie (partner of Total-Togo) plans to enter the Togolese energy market.
This was disclosed in a communiqué
by John van Zuylen, CEO of Africa Solar industry association, where he lauds Togo’s efforts relative to solar power.
Some of these operators, such as Solergie, are already well-acquainted with the Togolese market. Since the end of 2018, Solergie has set up solergie boxes for homes and small entrepreneurs all over the country.
The arrival of the new operators is set ot boost rural electrification, as they will be joining Soleva and BBOXX which already operate in the country, via the CIZO project.
ENGIE to build hybrid solar in Gabon
Ausar Energy, a subsidiary of ENGIE, has signed a 15-year lease-purchase agreement for the construction and operation of hybrid solar power plants, which will eventually supply nearly 1,600 homes and save 2,600 tonnes of CO2 per year.
ENGIE Africa and its subsidiary AUSAR Energy are launching the construction of 8 hybrid solar power plants at remote sites in the Northwest, in partnership with the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignation du Gabon. It’s a major pilot project to give energy access to isolated villages and help the environment.
The 8 solar power plants we will build will save 1mn litres of fuel oil per year, or 2,600 tonnes of CO2, and reduce production costs by 30%. Installed near isolated villages, they will supply nearly 1,600 homes.
Their technology constitutes a major
innovation for Gabon, which for the first time will be developing skills in photovoltaic solar power. These plants will contribute to the country’s climate plan to reverse the Gabonese energy mix, until now consisting mainly of fossil fuels.
Morocco issues 400MW solar IPP tender
The Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (Masen) recently launched a call for tenders for the construction of several photovoltaic solar power plants by Independent Power Producers (IPPs)to produce 400 MW.
The new PV solar power plants will be built in Morocco as part of Phase I of the Noor PV II Multi-Site Solar Programme.
A call for expressions of interest has just been launched by the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (Masen) for independent power producers (IPPs).
At least nine sites have been pre-selected for the implementation of the first phase of the Noor PV II Multi-Site Solar Programme. They are distributed between Boujdour on the southwest Atlantic Coast (in Western Sahara, editor’s note) and Guercif, near the Mediterranean. The total capacity of the installations will be 400 MWp.
This project is part of Morocco’s policy to produce 3,000 MW of electricity from renewable sources in 10 years, that is to say between 2020 and 2030.
Still within the framework of the Noor programme, concentrated solar power plants will be built in Morocco. The most advanced project is Noor Midelt I, whose concession has been awarded to a consortium consisting of EDF Renouvelables, a subsidiary of Electricité de France (EDF), Abu Dhabi Future
Energy Company (Masdar), the Moroccan company Green of Africa and Masen. This concentrating solar power plant will have a capacity of 800 MW.
WIND
Google abandons plans to
buy into lake Turkana wind
farm
Google’s plans to buy a 12.5% stake in Africa’s largest wind farm have been cancelled after delays to the project, Danish wind turbine maker Vestas has said.
The 310MW Lake Turkana wind farm in Kenya was initially set for completion 2017, after which Google had committed to buy the stake from Vestas.
But the delay led to the cancellation of the deal with Google in 2019, Vestas said.
“Due to delays relating primarily to the transmission line, the Vestas agreement
with Google was cancelled in 2019,” a Vestas spokesman told Reuters, adding that it was in talks with other potential buyers of the stake.
The KES70bn ($686mn) wind farm located in Loiyangalani, Marsabit County comprises 365 turbines, each with a capacity of generating 850kW of energy.
This project is one of Kenya’s ambitious energy projects that are aimed to add more megawatts to the grid. As of October 2019, wind power generates only 11.88% of the total capacity.
Hydro and Geothermal are still the leaders with a combined 58.7% of the total.
The Lake Turkana Wind Power project is part of an ambitious plan of reaching 100% green energy by 2020 and we have to wait and see if such projects will replace the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation.
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Week 06 13•February•2020