Tag: Sustainability & Renewable Energy

Metier Private Equity sells stake in Bokpoort Concentrated Solar Power to Revego Africa Energy for US$14.2m

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA- Metier  Private Equity, has sold its 12% stake in the 50 MW Bokpoort Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) asset in the Northern Cape to Revego Africa Energy for US$14.2m Bokpoort CSP is one of South Africa’s premier CSP projects and fulfils Revego’s mandate of investing in operational, dividend-earning renewable assets. Bokpoort CSP is a 50MW plant which is run as an independent power producer, with Saudi Arabian based ACWA Power International acting as the operational partner. Bokpoort CSP was one of the first CSP projects in South Africa under…

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Mining company Gold Fields’ board gives green light to South Deep solar project

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – the Board of Directors Gold Fields, one of the world’s largest gold mining firms, has given the green light for the construction of a 40MW solar plant at the South Deep mine in South Africa. The move follows the granting of a licence by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa on 25 February 2021. The 40MW solar plant will generate over 20% of the average electricity consumption of the mine and  will comprise 116,000 solar panels and cover a 118 ha and will be on mine…

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Mobility firm Planet42 becomes the first company in Africa to be certified carbon neutral

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – South African-based Planet42 has become the first mobility company in Africa to be certified carbon neutral. The company achieved the certification under The CarbonNeutral Protocol, one of the world’s leading frameworks for carbon neutrality. To offset their emissions, Planet42 has chosen to support a wind farm in South Africa’s Northern Cape province near the town of De Aar, a project that aims to reduce South Africa’s dependency on coal and other fossil fuels via wind turbines. For the past decade, South Africa has been during an energy…

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E-mobility start-up Ecobodaa secures funding round from Persistent Energy Capital

Frank

KENYA – Ecobodaa, an e-mobility start-up working to roll out electric motorbike taxis, has raised a round of funding from Persistent Energy Capital to help its growth ambitions. Founded in 2020 by Kim Chepkoit and Steve Juma, Ecobodaa aims to provide more affordable, safer, connected and environmentally-friendly means of transportation for commuters in African cities, and works on a rent-to-own model so that its riders can eventually own the electric powered motorcycles.  The start-up, which was last year selected for the Nairobi-based Africa Transformative Mobility Accelerator, has now raised a round of funding from Persistent…

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German company ecoligo commissions Kenya’s first floating solar system

Frank

KENYA – Berlin-based solar company ecoligo, which implements solar projects in emerging markets, has commissioned Kenya’s first ever floating solar plant. The 69 kWp system provides clean and affordable energy to the sustainable flower farm, Rift Valley Roses. The solar plant floats on one of the farm’s water reservoirs, saving space and providing many other benefits in addition to renewable energy. Rift Valley Roses has been pursuing the goal of sustainable, environmentally friendly production for years and in addition to rainwater catchment basins to reduce water consumption and biogas plants,…

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African cities demonstrate progressive leadership in renewables deployment – REN21

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AFRICA – According to the 2021 edition of REN21’s Renewables in Cities Global Status Report, one billion people live in cities with a renewable energy target or policy and the number of cities that have enforced partial or complete bans on fossil fuels jumped fivefold in 2020. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the report shows that despite many challenges, city governments across the region have taken important steps to advance the deployment of renewables. Africa’s urban population increased more than 16-fold between 1950 and 2018, from 33 million to 548 million, and this…

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Djibouti unveils wind-powered desalination plant

Frank

DJIBOUTI – French group Eiffage, via its subsidiary Eiffage genie civil, in partnership with Tedagua, a Spanish company specialising in water treatment and a subsidiary of the Cobra group, have constructed a wind powered solar desalination plant in Djibouti. The plant will improve the supply of drinking water in this country in the Horn of Africa, which faces persistent water stress. The seawater desalination plant was inaugurated on March 14th, 2021 by Djibouti’s president, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh. The plant is powered by a nearby wind farm and is one of…

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German firm Boreal commissions desalination wastewater treatment systems in Kenya

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KENYA – German start-up Boreal Light has commissioned desalination and wastewater treatment systems in several hospitals in Mombasa County, Kenya. The installations are part of a programme implemented in partnership with the Kenyan company WaterKiosk and the Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), a subsidiary of the German Development Agency (KfW). The programme aims to install 28 desalination systems for health facilities in Kenya and Tanzania. The company will also provide systems that treat wastewater from health facilities and such plants are important in hospitals treating Covid-19 cases on a daily…

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Investment firm SunFunder closes US$70m solar energy fund

Frank

AFRICA – Investment company SunFunder, a company specializing in solar energy, has completed the financial mobilisation for its Solar Energy Transformation (SET) fund worth US$70 million. The multi-investor fund has been closed thanks to an investment by Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB). The SET Fund was launched by SunFunder with the aim of accelerating the electrification process in Africa and this financing mechanism has attracted many other investors like Swedfund which injected US$12 million in September 2020. The fund has also received investment from American Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Calvert Impact…

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InfraCo Africa to finance construction of Golomoti solar project in Malawi

Frank

MALAWI – Sub -Sahara infrastructure fund InfraCo Africa, part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), and its project partner, JCM Power (JCM), have announced their commitment to finance construction of the 20MWAC Golomoti Solar project with a 5MW/10MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) in Malawi. Golomoti Solar will be the first commercial-scale solar photovoltaic plant in Malawi to include a BESS, and along with its sister project, Salima Solar, Golomoti is among the first commercial-scale solar photovoltaic plants in the country. “As part of our commitment to Malawi’s renewable…

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