Energy

The Redstone plant will achieve its full capacity soon. (Image source: ACWA Power)

ACWA Power, a private water desalination company and leader in the energy transition, has confirmed that the Redstone Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant in South Africa has reached 50MW

In a statement released on 27 October, the company announced the 50MW milestone before indicating that the facility will achieve its full, 100MW capacity in the coming days. Delivered through a collaboration with Herlogas and SEPCOIII, the project is being synchronised with South Africa’s national grid and is expected to provide clean energy to nearly 200,000 households while reducing CO2 emissions.

ACWA Power has also indicated that the Kom Ombo Photovoltaic plant in Egypt has reached its full production capacity of 200MW. It is expected to support and cater to the power needs of around 130,000 households and offset 280,000 tons of CO₂ per year.

Reinforcing Africa’s energy and water landscape

With these projects, ACWA Power has current investments of US$7bn in project costs across the continent.

“Our investments in Africa reflect our commitment to sustainable growth through strategic partnerships and leading-edge technology,” remarked Marco Arcelli, CEO of ACWA Power. “ACWA Power is not only a financial leader but also a responsible partner and a pioneer in shaping Africa’s energy and water future. We are eager to invest further where opportunities are most promising, bringing positive change to communities across the continent.”

The company harbours ambitions to triple its business size announced in 2023, leveraging its proven track record of delivering sustainable infrastructure to do so.

GridOS deployed in a utility control room setting. (Image source: GE Vernova)

GE Vernova, a global energy company, has deployed its GridOS orchestration software in the Information and Coordination Centre (ICC) in Benin to help facilitate energy exchange across the West African Power Pool (WAPP)

The initiative is aimed at transforming the region’s energy landscape and the ICC in Abomey-Calavi has been completed to serve as a centralised command centre for the mainland member countries of ECOWAS. It will oversee the interconnected power grids of 14 nations, marking a milestone in the goal of creating a unified power market in West Africa to ultimately pave the way for more reliable, sustainable and affordable power.

Elements of GE Vernova’s GridOS software portfolio have been deployed in the facility to help utilities achieve the resiliency and flexibility needed for a more sustainable energy grid. The ICC is using several of the portfolio’s intelligent grid applications, including an Energy Management System (EMS) engineered for dispatching; a Wide Area Monitoring System (WAMS) designed for grid stability; and an Advanced Market Management System designed to support the trading of power among ECOWAS countries.

“We are honoured to partner with WAPP in their mission to promote and develop power generation and transmission infrastructures, as well as to coordinate power exchange among the ECOWAS member states. Our GridOS portfolio provides the ICC with modern software capabilities to automate grid operations and help increase the energy transaction rate across the region, helping overcome energy challenges in the ECOWAS zone,” remarked Mahesh Sudhakaran, general manager for GE Vernova’s grid software business.

GE Vernova’s GridOS forecasting solution will be used to enhance the value of Variable Renewable Energy on the electricity market with advanced forecasting and ramping tools. Through this integration, engineers will have near real-time access to data on energy flow across the WAPP interconnected network, enabling them to monitor, analyse, and optimise power distribution.

The Menengai Geothermal Project will be developed in five phases with the goal of developing 465MW of geothermal steam equivalent. (Image source: GDC)

The Geothermal Development Company, a government-owned company that is mandated to execute surface geothermal development, has announced the groundbreaking of the third geothermal power plant at the Menengai Geothermal Project

Set to take place on 24 October and presided over by Kenyan President William Ruto, the groundbreaking has been described as an important step in the country’s transition to clean and reliable energy. Further, it underscores Kenya’s commitment to sustainable energy generation and enhancing the country’s energy mix.

The groundbreaking of the 35MW power plant by OrPower 22, the third independent power producer (IPP) at the site in the eastern sector of the Menengai Caldera, is the next step in the delivery of the wider project that has a long-term goal of developing 465MW of geothermal steam equivalent.

Phase 1 of the Menengai projects targets to generate 105MW and will be met through the three IPPs on site. The first, Sosian, started to generate 35MW in late 2023 while Globeleq is currently the second power plant which will also generate 35MW.

According to the Geothermal Development Company, the delivery of the third power plant promises wide-ranging benefits, such as lower electricity costs (power from the Menengai Geothermal Project is the most competitively priced at 7 $cts/ kWh). Moreover, there will be job opportunities unlocked as it progresses, while boosting economic growth.

The KOSAP programme is part of Kenya Vision 2030, the long-term development blueprint for the country. (Image source: d.light)

d.light, a provider of transformational household products and affordable finance, has been selected to take part in the Kenyan Government’s initiative to expand the uptake of off-grid solar home systems and clean cookstoves in underserved counties

The Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project (KOSAP) is a flagship project of the Ministry of Energy, financed by the World Bank, that aims to provide electricity and clean cooking solutions in the remote, low-density underserved areas of the country. It is part of the Government’s goal of providing universal electricity in Kenya, helping to pave the way for the realisation of Kenya Vision 2030.

According to World Bank 2022 data, 24% of Kenyans still lack access to electricity and more than 34% of the country’s rural population without access. Moreover, only 30% of the population have access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, with the remainder at risk from using harmful fuels such as unprocessed biomass, charcoal, coal and kerosene.

d.light’s managing director for Kenya, Karanja Njoroge, remarked, “Kenya has achieved sustained economic growth and social development in the last decade or so, and its economy is the largest and most developed in eastern and central Africa. However, many of its citizens still live without access to electricity, especially in rural areas outside the major towns and cities. These areas are also vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including droughts and desertification.”

Supporting rural Kenya

THE KOSAP programme, launched in 2018, is targeted at rectifying these deficiencies and consists of four components with a total budget of US$150mn (provided as a grant from the World Bank). The four components are focused on mini grids for community facilities, businesses and households; standalone solar home systems and clean cooking solutions for households; standalone systems solar home systems and clean cooking solutions for households; standalone systems and solar water pumps for community facilities; and capacity building for development, planning and regulation of power and renewable energy at a county government level.

d.light has been selected to participate in the second component which has been allocated US$15.7mn. d.light will provide solar power and clean cooking solutions to more than 150,000 people, with its solar products sold on an instalment plan via the company’s ‘PayGo’ service.

“Kenya was one of the first African countries in which d.light launched operations back in 2008, and our headquarters for Africa is in Nairobi,” continued Njoroge. “With our combination of tried-and-tested, market-leading products, established distribution channels, and our secure ‘PayGo’ payment system, d.light is ideally placed to participate in this latest drive to extend clean, safe, renewable energy to the people and communities in rural Kenya who need it. Thanks to the KOSAP initiative, a better quality of life is within reach for many Kenyans.”

In July, d.light announced that it had closed a securitisation facility to scale up its PayGo consumer finance in select African countries. Click here to discover the full story.