Page 11 - AfrElec Week 48

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
SOLAR
Lumos receives grant from
Nigeria’s REA for solar kit
distribution
Solar kit supplier Lumos Global has received the rst part of a grant from the Rural Electri cation Agency (REA) to continue the distribution of its solar home systems in Nigeria.
e Rural Electri cation Agency (REA) has begun to implement its new strategy to accelerate access to electricity in Nigeria. It has therefore decided to subsidise the Dutch company Lumos Global with EUR75mn ($83mn).
e Amsterdam-based company has revised its objectives upwards. It now plans to provide solar kits to one million households by 2025, the end date of the REA grant.
Nigeria has a population of more than 200 million people, 60% of whom have no access to electricity. “ e market is huge (...) Having help for capital expenditures through these kinds of grants is a great help,” says Alistair Gordon, Lumos’s Executive Director.
Its kit typically consists of a solar panel, an inverter and a storage system that provides electricity to households a er sunset. e company also supplies energy saving bulbs, charging stations for mobile phones and plugs that can support a radio, TV or fan.
“REA, in collaboration with the federal government, has obtained funds from
the World Bank ($350mn) and the AfDB ($200mn). is funding will help us connect communities, schools and homes to electricity,” said Damilola Ogunbiyi, REA’s Executive Director, recently.
It has decided to award grants to seven companies operating in Nigeria.
Gridworks seals $7.2mn investment in Mettle
Gridworks, the company set up in 2019 to develop and invest in Africa’s electricity networks, today announced the nancial close of its investment in Mettle Solar Investments (Mettle).
Mettle is a South African-based commercial and industrial (C&I) solar power company that provides energy solutions to business customers across Africa. Mettle will receive ZAR106.7mn ($7.2mn) of equity funding from Gridworks.
e investment by Gridworks will also
see Mettle appoint Mbuvi Ngunze as its new Chairman. Ngunze is an experienced African
Week 48 05•December•2019
business leader, who is currently a senior advisor to Catalyst Principal Partners and was previously the Group MD and CEO of Kenya Airways.
Mettle currently has 34 projects (28.1MW) in operation in South Africa, Namibia, Kenya and Indian Ocean islands with a further 2.3MW currently under construction. It works with business clients to fund, develop and operate solar power technologies, including battery storage, that provide consistent, a ordable clean energy.
Gridworks’ investment, its rst since launching in June 2019, will help drive Mettle into new markets across Africa.
e investment aims to reduce carbon emissions and demonstrate the commercial viability of C&I systems for businesses in a continent where 70% of total energy demand currently comes from commercial and industrial customers.
Côte d’Ivoire joins the
World Bank’s Scaling Solar
programme
e World Bank Group, through its Scaling Solar programme, and the government of Côte d’Ivoire have signed an agreement to help the West African country develop its supply of a ordable, reliable clean energy.
Côte d’Ivoire has plans to reach at least 42% of its power from renewable sources by 2030.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, signed the agreement with the government of Côte d’Ivoire to help the country, one of West Africa’s largest economies, develop 60MW
of grid-connected solar power through two public-private partnership (PPP) projects, which will power thousands of homes and businesses in the country.
Abdourahmane Cissé, Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Petroleum, Energy and Renewable Energy, said: “Developing and diversifying our energy supply is a top priority for Côte d’Ivoire as we grow our economy and increase the number of countries to which we export electricity. In accordance with our COP21 climate change commitments, Scaling Solar will help us tap our abundant solar resources and bring clean power to the people of Côte d’Ivoire, especially those in rural areas.”
Aliou Maiga, IFC Regional Director for West and Central Africa, added “Scaling Solar has set a new standard for developing solar power in Africa while consistently reducing its costs. e World Bank Group programme will help Côte d’Ivoire diversify its sources of power generation, opening up new markets for clean energy production and distribution, and bringing clean, a ordable energy to the largest economy in the West Africa Economic and Monetary zone.”
Under the agreement with Côte d’Ivoire, Scaling Solar will support the development, tendering, and nancing of two utility projects in the country, which has West Africa’s third- largest electrical system with an installed generation capacity of 2,200MW.
e planned utility-scale solar photovoltaic installations will complement other planned solar projects to help Côte d’Ivoire achieve
its goal of generating 400MW of solar power by 2030, contributing to climate change mitigation.
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