Morocco’s concentrated solar power plant will help to meet the electricity needs of 1.1 million people

In February this year Morocco launched the first phase of the largest concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in the world. The three-plant Noor-Ouarzazate CSP complex called NOORo expects to achieve over 500 megawatts  installed capacity, ultimately supplying power to 1.1 million Moroccans by 2018. It is estimated that the plant will save for country about 2.5 million tons of oil annually and will reduce carbon emissions by 760,000 tons per year.

Google invests in Africa’s biggest wind power project

The Lake Turkana Wind Power Project in Kenya is expected to generate 1,400 gigawatt-hours of power per year, or 15 percent of the country’s electricity consumption. New project will include 365 wind turbines spread along the shore of Lake Turkana.

The SAMSET project: supporting African municipalities in sustainable energy transitions

The SAMSET project involves six cities in Ghana, Uganda and South Africa. Secondary and smaller cities, which are experiencing massive social and economic expansions, but have less capacity to cope, are the main focus for the support.

First dedicated sub-Saharan African renewable energy fund is now fully capitalized

The African Renewable Energy Fund (AREF), a renewable energy fund focused on sub-Saharan Africa successfully reached USD200 million of committed capital to support small to medium scale projects, with investment at the final close from European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF).

Imprisonment for violators of new South Africa’s National Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting Regulation

New regulation was published by Environmental Affairs Minister in the Government Gazette for public comment. It sought to penalize people convicted of an offence in terms of the regulation to a fine up to  R10-million, or prison sentence not exceeding ten years.

Rainfall rise in the Sahel region of Africa - a rare positive effect of climate change

Study, conducted by scientists from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at Britain's Reading University, states that  continued rise in greenhouse gas emissions was likely to help more rainfall and caused a greening of the Sahel region, south of the Sahara Desert from Senegal to Sudan.

Climate change may affect coffee lovers

Recent study, published in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Journal, predicts severe negative climate change impacts on Arabica coffee production in Africa. The results of  another research, based on global circulation models, suggest  decreased areas suitable for Arabica coffee in America and Asia. 

Ghana: Achieving Energy Efficiency through Consumer Behavioral Change

Ghana's energy crisis has deteriorated in recent times, hitting businesses hard, with authorities blaming the situation on low water levels in the Akosombo Dam and lack of gas to power the country's thermal plants.The path to a sustainable energy system for the future lies in two broad segments. The first is technology advancements and the second is conserving energy. The domestic sector accounts for 47% of the total consumption and has a saving potential of 18 – 25%. Now the biggest challenge is how to motivate domestic consumers to conserve energy or alter consumer’s behavior towards energy conservation. Read more at www.modernghana.com

Africa’s power sector offers ‘potentially attractive opportunities’

Using per-capita data, a US citizen on average uses 12,461 kilowatt hours of electricity per annum; a citizen of Ethiopia uses 52. On average, only 30% of Sub-Saharan Africa citizens have any access to electric power, and even where power is available, provision can be sporadic, with frequent power cuts and “brown-outs”.   A US government-sponsored initiative, Power Africa, is looking to provide financing and expertise to encourage investment links between businesses and African governments to develop smaller-scale, technologically innovative generation projects. The projects are slanted toward renewable energy solutions that utilise Africa’s abundant resources of solar, wind and geothermal power, but are not neglecting the growing potential of natural gas as the number of hydrocarbon discoveries across Africa multiplies. The Power Africa initiative has been ongoing for a little over a year, but additional funding announced at the US-Africa Leaders Summit in August 2014 has increased the potential budget for the operation to US$26bn in direct financing and investment guarantees. The China-supported dam building efforts, supplemented by other major projects, including proposed nuclear plants in South Africa and a major coal-fired power station in Zimbabwe, could potentially make a huge difference to Africa’s generating capacity. Read more at http://www.blackstarexodus.com

India to partner with Africa to fight climate change

Ahead of the UN climate conference in Paris later this year, India Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar  on Wednesday said that adaptation and mitigation must be accorded "equal" importance and assured that it will partner with African nations to fight climate change while taking cooperation to a "new level". Read more at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Clean Affordable Energy for All in the 21st century

Meeting the energy needs of all countries while staying within environmental limits requires goals and indicators that adhere to the climate science. The post-2015 development framework must catalyse major emissions reductions through energy demand reduction (efficiency and behavior change) and increasing renewable energy generation.Read more >>>
Sudan Vision

South Africa Doubles Plans for Renewable Energy

An additional 3,600 megawatts will be sought in accordance with the country’s integrated resources plan, and will include an additional 200 megawatts from smaller black-owned producers. The country has so far procured about 3,900 megawatts of capacity through three competitive rounds of bids by independent producers, with about $10 billion invested. That already exceeds the 3,725 megawatts initially sought from five bid windows. Read more>>>
Bloomberg