Vol. 12 Issue 2 ISSN 1756-4417 www.AE-Africa.com March/April 2019 Filling the Energy Information Gap in Africa March/April 2019 VOL.12 ISSUE 2 CONTENTS FEATURES DEPARTMENTS Local Impact Africa Beat 4 Why Women are a Force for Good in the Tech Beat 8 Climate Change Movement 14 Global Alternatives 11 Teach Beat African Politics 30 A New Lease on Transformer Life 16 Corporate 32 Africa Spotlight Conferences 34 Cameroon 14 Egypt 22 Vol. 12 Issue 2 ISSN 1756-4417 www.AE-Africa.com Feature Filling the Energy Information Gap in Africa Rolls-Royce Sees a Boost to its Bottom Line 26 Market & Policy AfDB Pledges $25 Billion to Climate Finance 28 Alternative Focus meeco Develops Clean Energy Products Redavia Solar Farm in Ghana for Tourism Sector in Africa 28 Source: Redavia All rights to editorial matter are reserved by Alternative Energy Africa, a Petroleum Africa Magazine, Inc. publication. No article may be reproduced or transmitted by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. Publisher Dianne Sutherland Publisher’s Note Over the past couple of years, the impact that sustainable development goals (SDGs) Contributing Editor are having across many industries is becoming increasingly measurable. One industry Jennifer Nickle that is really picking up the sustainability gauntlet is the tourism industry, with “green Advertising Inquiries tourism, eco-tourism and sustainable tourism” gaining momentum around the world, [email protected] African nations included. Subscriptions Initially, the hospitality industry coined the phrase “green tourism,” requesting guests to [email protected] re-use their towels and linens, but actually did very little to conserve resources. Now, Africa Headquarters however, the phrase is taking on a new meaning. Green tourism is increasingly being 10G Ahmed Abd El- Aziz St., linked to eco-tourism and sustainable tourism, and the three are on the way to becoming completely integrated. New Maadi, Cairo, Egypt Tel/Fax: +2 02 2517 7454 The future of green tourism will see sustainable measures put in practice along the entire value chain from lodging, Email: [email protected] catering, and transportation to sourcing only local inputs, for example. Hotels, resorts and even hostels will integrate Advertising Representatives practices that are aimed at environmental conservation which can include recycling, waste treatment, conserving Austria, Germany, Switzerland water and energy, and so on, with the goal being to leave little to zero carbon footprint, which the younger generation Eisenacher Medien cares deeply about. Erhardt Eisenacher Tel: +49 0228 2499 860 [email protected] The types of touristic activities being promoted are also changing, to include more eco-focused tourism around the globe, offering exotic destinations such as Azerbaijan, Iceland, South Africa, and Vietnam. The possibilities for Ghana enjoying a low-carbon footprint vacation are seemingly endless, from kayaking, whale watching, wildlife safaris, Research Development & and wine tasting, there are plenty of options. When planning your next holiday, just google a few of your preferred Financial Consultants Ltd. Tel: +233 302 767 919 destinations and add eco-tourism; you will be pleasantly surprised with the options the search returns! [email protected] In this issue’s Alternative Focus article, meeco Group offers a closer look at what is in the future of Botswana under Italy its sun2share project development and financing model (see page 29). Also in this issue, both Cameroon and Egypt Ediconsult Internazionale Anna De Bortoli are covered in-depth in the Africa Focus section; be sure to catch all the exciting developments in their respective Tel: +39 02 477 100 36 solar and wind sub-sectors. And finally, the African Development Bank is strengthening its position as a leading [email protected] multilateral investor in renewable energy projects; read more on its accomplishments in the Markets and Policy section. As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome and can be sent to [email protected]. South Africa Antonette Benting Tel: +27 82 414 8191 Dianne Sutherland [email protected] Publisher 3 Alternative Energy Africa Magazine March/April 2019 Africa Beat First Floating PV Project in South Africa Complete The solar power plant under the Bangweulu Power Company South Africa saw its first floating PV project completed. The floating is a JV with the Industrial Development Corporation and Neoen, a PV farm was undertaken by New Southern Energy, with the installation French company. operating at a dam next to a fruit farm just outside of Franschhoek in the country’s Western Cape province. The World Bank Group’s Scaling Solar Project awarded a contract to Neoen to construct a 100 MW solar power plant from the planned The floating PV project has a generation capacity of 60kW and will 500 MW under the project. help produce clean energy to the farm, while also minimizing evaporation from the farm’s dam and saving valuable agricultural land. Neoen holds a majority stake in the Bangweulu solar park and will be selling electricity to state firm ZESCO for the next 25 years at a rate The first phase of the of $60.15 per MWh. The project represents a total investment installation, which also of $60 million, $39 million of which was contributed by the IFC included the land- and OPIC. based solar installation on the Marlenique During the launch, President Lungu praised the IDC for taking up the farm, will allow the challenge to create an energy mix to bring solar power into the national facility to run 90% of electricity grid in response to the electricity deficit that affected the its energy intensive country in 2015. Source: New Southern Energy cold storage, irrigation and wedding venue facilities off of the traditional electrical grid. A Winch Energy Signs Contract with Sierra Leone on Mini-Grids second phase, which features energy storage assets, will remove the Winch Energy signed a contract with the Ministry of Energy in Sierra farm from the electrical grid entirely. Leone; to provide electricity to 24 towns and villages in the northern part of the country through solar mini-grids as part of a public-private OPIC Funds Off-Grid Solar Kits in Chad partnership project. The Rural Renewable Energy Project (RREP) is The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) committed $10 supported by UK aid grant funding and implemented by the United million to support the introduction of off-grid solar kits and appliances Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). in Chad. OPIC’s loan will help FinLux Ellen Sarl distribute solar kits and appliances to individuals, schools, health clinics and small businesses The first 12 mini-grids have already been installed. Winch Energy aims in Chad, providing them with an affordable source of reliable electricity. to make these operational by June 2019 with over 6,000 people set to benefit from a direct connection to the mini-grids in the first phase of The project is the 33rd OPIC has committed under the U.S. Power the project. An additional 12 larger mini-grids will be installed and Africa initiative and the first time OPIC has ever committed financing operated by Winch Energy starting Q4 2019, providing direct electricity to a project in Chad, one of the poorest countries in the world. connections to an additional 24,000 people. The 24 localities have a Last year, Chad ranked 186 out of 189 on the Human combined population of over 40,000 people who will benefit from proximity to the mini-grids, estimated to have a final combined installed Development Index. capacity of over 1.2 MW. When completed, RREP will be one of the largest off-grid projects of its kind in Africa to date. “OPIC is proud of its work supporting investment in the places where it is needed most – in this case bringing development finance to an The government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Energy has electricity project in Chad,” said David Bohigian, OPIC Acting President developed a strategy for active participation and involvement of the and CEO. “Expanding access to electricity is one of the most effective private sector in the operation and maintenance of solar mini-grid ways to empower people, improve their quality of life and foster systems through Public-Private Partnership arrangements. This UK economic growth.” aid-funded RREP will see 100 villages electrified by solar mini-grids by 2020. In addition, this project will make Winch Energy one of the Approximately 40% of Chad’s 15 million people live below the national biggest suppliers of electricity in Sierra Leone measured by the number poverty line and only 4% have regular access to electricity. In rural of customers. It also contributes to Winch Energy’s aim of implementing areas, electricity is particularly scarce, with only about 1% of the mini-grids at scale across the continent. population having access. The project will benefit the target communities through additional The solar kits and appliances that FinLux is distributing in Chad are business services (e.g. internet, refrigeration, printing, television, etc.), based on a battery produced in New York, USA and adapted for rural which will help to increase income within the locality and offer a better electrification in sub-Saharan Africa. Because women comprise half serviced trading center to the surrounding local population. The project of the company’s workforce, the project also advances OPIC’s 2X will also encourage productive uses of electricity and larger industrial Women’s initiative. loads such as milling and welding. These services will improve the socio-economic situation in the locality as well as ensure the Zambia’s Largest Solar Plant Complete long-term sustainability of the project. The local population will also President Edgar Lungu has commissioned a 54-MW solar power plant, benefit from Wi-Fi services to enhance communications, and as the construction of the Bangweulu plant reached completion.