Acwa Power inaugurates first wind farm in Morocco 

Power generation technology developer Acwa Power recently inaugurated its 120 MW Khalladi Wind Farm, near Tangiers, in Morocco, which will supply clean power to a number of large industrial companies.

The Khalladi project will contribute to the country achieving its 2020 target of increasing the renewable energy component of its energy mix to 42%. The 1.7 billion dirham, or US$170 million, wind farm was developed by Acwa in collaboration with ARIF Investment Fund

Engineering News, 3 July 2018 

Zambia obtains US$50m to advance its renewable energy programme

Facing a serious electricity supply deficit due to recent droughts, Zambia’s government launched the Renewable Energy Feed-in-Tariff (REFiT) policy in 2017 to crowd in private investments for small-scale (up to 20 MW) renewable projects.

To this end, the board of directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved US$50 million framework financing for small-scale renewable energy projects in the country.

The framework aims to finance 100 MW of renewable energy projects, primarily solar PV, to be selected under the GETFiT Zambia Programme. 

ESI Africa, 12 July 2018

CDC and Globeleq invest US$66m to develop solar PV plant in Kenya

CDC, a UK government development finance institution, alongside its partner, Globeleq, announced a US$66 million debt investment in Malindi Solar Group, to build a 52 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant in South-East Kenya. 

The Malindi plant will provide 52 MWp of clean generation capacity to the Kenyan grid.

It is estimated that the power generated will support the creation of jobs through direct employment and indirect job creation due to a more consistent supply of electricity.

ESI Africa, 12 July 2018 

Others expected to follow Coca-Cola’s solar leadership as costs fall

Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa, Coca-Cola’s bottling partner in South Africa, is aiming to have 25% of its electricity powered by renewable sources by 2025.

The company says the first 10% of this renewable energy, about 18 million kilowatt hours a year, will be rolled out nationwide through rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) units at 11 of its sites. This will be a combined installed capacity of 10.6 MW. Nine sites will be completed by the end of the year, with the last two expected to be completed by March 2019.

Engineering News, 13 July 2018

South Africa: Central Energy Fund signs 100 MW CSP deal

The Central Energy Fund of South Africa and ACWA Power have entered into a cooperation agreement to co-invest in renewable energy projects the first of which will be the 100 MW Redstone concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) plant in the country’s Northern Cape Province. 

The CSP plant will go into construction later this year and feature solar energy storage technology that will allow solar energy to be utilised to generate electricity not only when the sun is shining but also through the night cumulatively dispatching 480 000 MWh per year.

ESI Africa, 16 July 2018 

The above reflects a summary of certain news articles published during the preceding week.

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