Solar Energy Archives - Page 2 of 3

22Jun

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy, Somaliland

Somaliland: Solar Power and Microgrid Intelligence for an Urban Power Grid

DHYBRID Technology Improves Supply Security to City and Port of Berbera Berbera (Somaliland)/Gauting (Germany), June 22, 2021. As of April 2021, the citywide power grid supplying the city of Berbera, home to the largest port in the area, is being monitored and controlled using DHYBRID microgrid technology. For this purpose, two solar plants with a total capacity of 8 megawatts, a containerized lithium-ion power storage system with a capacity of 2 megawatt hours, and three modern diesel generators were combined in the Berbera Electricity Company (BEC) utility grid. This has enabled BEC to reduce the electricity tariff in Berbera which is now the lowest in the Somaliland and the Somali-Peninsula overall. With the help of its international partner teams and remote commissioning, DHYB...

16May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy, Kenya News, Startups, Tanzania News

Solar Cow- a Samaritan for the Children in Need

The relief of indigence is the primary goal in bringing about a positive change in the lifestyles of children in Africa. To this day, 1 in every 5 children in Africa is devoid of the right to education owing to child labor. Since electricity is a dire need of people even in the utmost rural areas, many low-income families rely on kerosene lighting and exorbitantly expensive charging stations (taking up to 15% of their monthly income) to meet their energy needs, forcing children to toil hard to contribute to their income. That’s why YOLK invented ‘The Solar Cow’ – one of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Inventions of 2019. It’s a solar charging system installed in schools in the backward regions of Africa, allowing children to charge portable batteries called ‘Solar Milk’ while they attend class an...

31Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy, Mozambique News

Mozambique holds the key to Southern Africa’s clean energy transition

By Fhedzi Modau, Mozambique Country Manager, Wartsila Energy Business With its massive gas reserves and billions of dollars of investment flowing in to monetize them, Mozambique has a unique opportunity to deploy a flexible power strategy that will bring major benefits across both its domestic and regional electricity markets. Countries across Southern Africa have established ambitious targets to increase access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy by 2030. Renewables, especially solar photovoltaic (PV), are expected to account for three quarters of the increase (IEA – Africa Energy Outlook 2019). However, the intermittent nature of renewables places great strain upon existing power grids. Both national and regional grids will require significant flexible power generation to cou...

16Mar

By Wale YusuffNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy, Nigeria News

Without flexibility, Nigeria will face difficulties integrating large amounts of renewable energy into the grid

Op-ed by Wale Yusuff, Managing Director of Wartsila Marine & Power Service Nig Ltd As the largest economy in Africa, with huge gas reserves and high solar energy potential, Nigeria has all the natural resources necessary to meet the growing demand for electricity. However, the inadequate energy infrastructure still leaves a significant part of the population without power or relying on oil-fired back-up generators. If Nigeria can improve its energy infrastructure and unlock its gas-to-power generation potential, it paves the way to integrating low-cost renewable energy, bringing electricity and development opportunities to rural villages, driving industrial growth and employment, and increasing prosperity across the country. There is no doubt that gas has an important role to play in ...

Without flexibility, the energy revolution in Africa will not take place

25Jun

By Ville RimaliNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy

Without flexibility, the energy revolution in Africa will not take place

It is no longer disputable that the energy transition integrating renewable energies into the grid is a reality that is unfolding globally. This can be observed at different rates and scales according to the countries, but the constant increase in demand and the continuous drop in the prices of these technologies will imply that renewable energies will constitute the basis of the power supply to the electrical networks in the future. It is, in fact, more of a revolution than a transition, given the rapidity with which the share of renewable energy is growing today, and the fall already noted in the prices of the renewable kWh produced. The same goes for the African continent, and in particular in North and West Africa, where Egypt, Morocco and Senegal have already embarked (on admittedly d...

Energy storage technology will make blackouts in Africa ancient history

15Jun

By Risto PaldaniusNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy

Energy storage technology will make blackouts in Africa ancient history

A shift from Africa’s traditional approach to power generation is needed to unleash the continent’s clean energy potential and secure an African future free from blackouts. A strategy centred around energy storage and flexible power systems will be the key to guaranteeing the reliability of a high-renewable grid, while also lowering the cost of electricity for Africans. As Africa’s economies and populations steadily grow, so too does the demand for reliable electricity. Simply put, new power plants need to be built, and the reliability of electricity systems needs to be vastly improved. But here is the challenge: How can African countries build an electrical system that can both integrate a large amount of inexpensive but intermittent renewable energy, while at the same time ensure resilie...

Loadshedding: why mini grids are the answer and why South Africa doesn’t have them (yet)

2Apr

By Annemarie RoodbolNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy, South Africa News

Loadshedding: why mini grids are the answer and why South Africa doesn’t have them (yet)

“Whole communities and towns can become 100% energy independent” “Mini grids could very quickly sort out a lot of the biggest challenges that South Africa is having with its energy supply at the moment” says Dr Sam Duby, Africa Director for TFE Energy and mini grid expert. He adds: “deregulation would open a market for people to produce power and sell power and that would revolutionise the energy landscape in South Africa. Technically it wouldn’t be a difficult or complex thing to do; there are plenty of precedents around the world where it has worked really well.” Mini grids have become increasingly important on the continent and are being built at a rapid rate with more than 2000 mini grids currently across Africa. Says Dr Duby: “it’s a combination of people waking up to the fact that it...

Friday@Noon on Renewable Energy in Africa: 2018

1Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Energy, Ethiopia News, Green Energy, Kenya News

Friday@Noon on Renewable Energy in Africa: 2018

by Johan Burger The NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies publishes a weekly newsletter on issues relevant to Africa. This paper is based on issues addressed in the newsletter. A trend of earlier years in which we saw the further growth and development of the renewable energy sector, has continued in 2018. Renewable energy is becoming increasing popular in Africa. The examples below demonstrate the extent to which Africa is embracing renewable and clean energy. According to the WEF, by mid-2017, 62.5% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa did not have access to reliable grid-connected electricity. This can largely be attributed to limited power infra-structure in many countries, which is further exacerbated by dispersed rural settlements. However, the region has an abundance of geothermal, ...

20Dec

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy, South Africa News

AE-AMD Renewable Energy And Tenesol/SunPower Begin Work On Two Solar Projects In South Africa

Projects are Part of Government's IPP Procurement Program JOHANNESBURG and SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AE-AMD Renewable Energy, a joint venture between the Spanish AMDA energia and the South African Alt-E Technologies, and Tenesol, a SunPower company (NASDAQ: SPWR), today announced two South African ground-mounted solar power projects totaling 33 megawatts (MW). Both projects, which Tenesol will construct, are located near Douglas, South Africa in the Northern Cape Province. Herbert, a 22-MW project, has begun construction, and groundbreaking for the 11-MW Greefspan project will begin in the coming weeks. They are both part of the South African government's Independent Power Producers Procurement Program and completion for both projects i...

10Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy

Canadian Solar Supplies Modules for Turkey’s Largest Commercial PV Project: 540 kW Solar Power Plant at Izmir Airport Installed by Gehrlicher Merk Solar

First PV project under the new Turkish 500 kW law ONTARIO, Canada, Nov., 2012 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company" or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar companies, provided its CS6P-P solar modules for the first project under the new Turkish solar energy legislation, YEK (Law on the utilization of renewable energy resources for the purpose of generating electricity), for solar power plants under 500 kW. The solar park has a capacity of 540 kW (450 kW on-grid and 90 kW off-grid), which marks a new milestone of solar power production in Turkey, making it the largest solar power plant in the country. This is the second project that Canadian Solar has realized in collaboration with the EPC contractor Gehrlicher ...