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SFCE Dec 23
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SFCE Reaffirms Commitment to Growing US Solar Market
Dec 22, 2015 | PV Magazine
Following the U.S. congress passes extension on solar investment trade credits (ITC), Shunfeng International Clean Energy (SFCE) reaffirms its commitment to the U.S. solar market and their subsidiary Suniva Inc. is well positioned as the second largest solar manufacturer in the U.S. with the right track of capacity expansion plan... -
EC slaps trade tariffs on handful of Malaysian and Taiwanese firms
Dec 22, 2015 | PV Tech
By John Parnell
The European Commission has handed down anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties of 53.4% and 11.5% to Malaysian and Taiwanese firms that enable Chinese solar products to dodge existing trade laws. -
7 Energy Storage Stories You Might Have Missed in 2015
Dec 22, 2015 | Greentech Media
By Katherine Tweed
It's been a breakout year for energy storage. The U.S. energy storage market grew 185 percent, from $134 million in 2014 to $381 million in 2015. By 2020, it will be a $2 billion market, according to GTM Research. -
Purple haze: lilac sky at night highlights China’s smog blight
Dec 23, 2015 | The Guardian
By Tom Phillips
Photographs appearing to show one of China’s most famous cities shrouded in a spectacular violet mist went viral on Wednesday, as millions of citizens choked on the country’s latest bout of toxic smog. The fluorescent purple haze that engulfed Nanjing – reportedly the result of a pollution-tinged sunset – was at one point the second most... -
Solar blowback hits Reid's Nevada
Dec 22, 2015 | PoliticoPro
By Esther Whieldon
Harry Reid’s home state dealt a lethal blow Tuesday to rooftop solar power — the latest skirmish of a nationwide green energy battle that has pitted the Senate Democratic leader against his favorite target, the Koch brothers. The move by Nevada’s utility regulator, which voted to slash the economic incentives for homeowners... -
SolarCity installs more than 1/3 of all U.S. residential solar in 2015
Dec 22, 2015 | PV Magazine
By Christian Roselund
SolarCity continues its dominance of the U.S. residential solar sector, according to GTM Research. The company's Leaderboard service reports puts the SolarCity's share of the U.S. residential market at 34.1% over the first three quarters of 2015. -
UK company aims to develop 60MW of solar in western Ireland
Dec 22, 2015 | Recharge
By Christopher Hopson
UK infrastructure and energy company Elgar Middleton plans to lodge planning applications next year to develop up to six solar farms with a combined capacity of 60MW around Limerick in western Ireland. Partner Edward Elgar tells Recharge that Elgar Middleton has been in talks with Limerick-based businessmen, who ... -
Africa Renewable Energy Initiative to build 10,000 MW of renewables in Africa by 2020
Dec 22, 2015 | Tree Hugger
By Michael Graham Richard
The Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) aims at enabling the installation of large-scale renewable energy capacity on the African continent by 2020. The African-led plan has just received a big boost with over $10 billion worth of financial backing from various members of the international community at COP21 in Paris.
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SFCE Reaffirms Commitment to Growing US Solar Market
Dec 22, 2015 | PV Magazine
Following the U.S. congress passes extension on solar investment trade credits (ITC), Shunfeng International Clean Energy (SFCE) reaffirms its commitment to the U.S. solar market and their subsidiary Suniva Inc. is well positioned as the second largest solar manufacturer in the U.S. with the right track of capacity expansion plan that SFCE announced at the time of acquisition in August 2015.
Last Friday, the U.S. lawmakers approved a five-year extension to the solar and wind investment trade credits (ITC) as part of omnibus spending bill, and it is believed the extension of the solar ITC will provide a significant boost to the industry and greatly facilitate the deployment of clean and affordable energy throughout the United States. According to GTM Research, it would result in 25GW of additional solar capacity over the next five years, which representing a 54 percent increase over a no-extension scenario.
"This is a fantastic development for clean energy in the United States," says SFCE CEO, Eric Luo. "This decision follows the truly transformative U.S.-led global agreement on climate and energy at COP21, reaffirming America's dedication to the clean energy revolution. The extension of the tax credits will help solidify the growing U.S. solar industry and establish clean energy as a real and affordable alternative to outdated reliance on fossil fuels.
"Suniva is a clear example of American leadership in the sector and the need for renewed investment in American manufacturing and products. Suniva's leading products are helping supply the growing appetite for well-made and efficient solar panels, and its capacity expansion to 400MW of Buy American Act (BAA) compliant solar products will further strengthen our competitiveness in the U.S. market."
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EC slaps trade tariffs on handful of Malaysian and Taiwanese firms
Dec 22, 2015 | PV Tech
By John Parnell
The European Commission has handed down anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties of 53.4% and 11.5% to Malaysian and Taiwanese firms that enable Chinese solar products to dodge existing trade laws.
An anti-circumvention investigation by the commission has found that while the vast majority of producers in both countries were legitimate, there was some evidence of transhipment, fraudulent invoices on components and laminated modules being imported as cells. Some companies claiming to be manufacturers were found not to have any production facilities.
Ultimately, however, the impact of circumvention appears not to have been dominant, with modules imported to Europe from Malaysian companies operating outwith the rules at 9% and 7% for Taiwan as a proportion of total consumption in the EU.
The investigation’s found a shift in the pattern of trade in the wake of European trade duties on Chinese products with the increase in imports of Chinese products matched closely by an increase in exports to Europe.
The European Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF, has ongoing investigations into solar exports from Malaysia and Taiwan.
The anti-circumvention investigation was requested by SolarWorld in May of 2015. SolarWorld VP Milan Nitzschke said: "We had sufficient evidence of a change in the pattern of trade and it was necessary to request the investigation. These results show there is still a criminal element within the solar industry. We have said many times that we have no issue with genuine, legitimate producers in Malaysia and Taiwan but we have seen there are still many trying to cheat the rules and their customers."
Responding to today’s commission ruling, James Watson, CEO of trade body SolarPower Europe, said: “Ultimately the commission has found that circumvention did take place at a low level, we believe that those companies circumventing should be punished accordingly. However, removing the measures from modules and cells from China is the answer to this problem, which would allow consumers in Europe to access the best modules at the best prices.
“In terms of the future we encourage the commission to bring the expiry review to a quick conclusion and end the measures in place, extending them to other countries will simply exacerbate the slow growth of solar in Europe today. This is counterproductive to the great principles we have signed up to in Paris just days ago,” added Watson.
The following companies are exempted from the new measures:
Malaysia
AUO - SunPower Sdn. Bhd.
Flextronics Shah Alam SDN. BHD
Hanwha Q CELLS Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
Panasonic Energy Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
TS Solartech Sdn. Bhd.Taiwan
ANJI Technology Co., Ltd.
AU Optronics Corporation
Big Sun Energy Technology Inc.
EEPV Corp.
E-TON Solar Tech. Co., Ltd.
Gintech Energy Corporation
Gintung Energy Corporation
Inventec Energy Corporation
Inventec Solar Energy Corporation
LOF Solar Corp.
Ming Hwei Energy Co., Ltd.
Motech Industries, Inc.
Neo Solar Power Corporation
Perfect Source Technology Corp.
Ritek Corporation
Sino-American Silicon Products Inc.
Solartech Energy Corp.
Sunengine Corporation Ltd.
Topcell International Co.,
TSEC Corporation
Win Win Precision Technology Co., Ltd. -
7 Energy Storage Stories You Might Have Missed in 2015
Dec 22, 2015 | Greentech Media
By Katherine Tweed
It's been a breakout year for energy storage.
The U.S. energy storage market grew 185 percent, from $134 million in 2014 to $381 million in 2015. By 2020, it will be a $2 billion market, according to GTM Research.
The growth in numbers has come largely from a few states and a few big trends. California is starting to see traction with procurements to meet AB 2514, which calls for 1.3 gigawatts of energy storage by 2020 from the state’s three large investor-owned utilities.
A handful of other states are also giving more attention to storage. For the first time, Hawaii passed California for residential deployments in the third quarter of 2015. New York comes in third behind California and Hawaii for non-residential energy storage systems.
Even with advances in a few states, however, "Let's be honest with ourselves about the market as it exists today,” GTM Research Senior VP Shayle Kann said at the beginning of the GTM's Energy Storage Summit in December. “It's very small.”
The nascent energy storage market got a huge boost in 2015 with the announcement of Tesla’s Powerwall, which brought an incredible amount of attention to the burgeoning industry. Tesla’s Powerwall is priced at $3,500 for a 10-kilowatt-hour residential storage system. There have been claims from companies that say they can rival Powerwall, although few if any may be able to compete with its market cachet in the early days. MOST POPULARMOST COMMENTS Congress Passes Tax Credits for Solar and Wind: ‘Sausage-Making at Its Most Intense’ Congress Is on the Verge of Passing Multi-Year Extensions for Solar and Wind Tax Credits David Crane’s Clean Energy Vision Could Soon Be Sold Off in Pieces White Papers The New Face of Damage Assessment DOWNLOAD NOW Executive Briefing: The Future of U.S. Solar DOWNLOAD NOW
There was also a rush of companies, including Sunrun, SolarCity, EnerNOC and SolarEdge, which have announced intentions to work with Tesla. One utility has already made good on its announcement: Vermont’s Green Mountain Power is the first in the U.S. to lease the backup system to customers.
Moving to the front of the meter, the PJM Interconnection region is leading the charge for utility-scale projects, with California coming in second. Even though the action is concentrated in a few states and regions, there are clues about where the market is going to be found in many of the smaller stories that happened in 2015.
Here’s what you might have missed. Oregon’s storage mandate
California grabs most of the headlines for its precedent-setting 1.3 gigawatts of mandated storage. But to the north, Oregon is also directing utilities to adopt storage. This summer, legislators passed House Bill 2193, which requires utilities to invest in at least one energy storage system of at least 5 megawatt-hours. The state regulators will put out procurement guidelines by January 2017 and utilities will have to submit proposals the following year. RegD in PJM
Way back in 2011, Order 755 from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission called for an increase in the pay for “fast” responding frequency regulation sources, such as batteries, flywheels and demand response.
By 2013, payments for fast frequency regulation, known as RegD in PJM, had tripled. But as RegD resources have flooded the market, PJM has found that there are decreased benefits with an over-representation of RegD resources in the total frequency regulation mix.
To correct this issue, PJM has proposed an adjustment to both its total cost formula and benefits factor curve, and a decision is expected next year. No matter what the final calculation looks like, this issue highlights the fact that higher-paying fast regulation is already reaching saturation in the largest market in the U.S., notes Ravi Manghani, senior energy storage analyst with GTM Research. For energy storage projects that are banking on frequency regulation as a core economic benefit, it raises questions around what that value may be in years to come. SDG&E expands Borrego microgrid pilot
San Diego Gas & Electric’s Borrego Springs microgrid project was put into motion long before AB 2514. The DOE-funded project brings together a network of rooftop solar, substation batteries, backup diesel generators and intelligent grid switches within the isolated desert town.
Earlier this year, the California Energy Commission offered a $5 million grant to expand the project so that it can run entirely on clean energy. The microgrid’s battery installation will allow for the project to run entirely on solar and serve the entire 2,800 customers in the community, up form the 1,000 customers the microgrid serves today. The expansion has already been useful; in June the microgrid served the entire community while SDG&E did routine maintenance.
The project expansion will make it one of the largest community microgrids in the U.S. and an example of how renewables, intelligent grid controls, and batteries need to work together as a single distributed energy resource management system. Ireland’s energy storage ambitions
Unlike many other countries in Europe, Ireland has a robust ancillary services market, which is expected to reach more than $250 million in 2016, James Tedd of the Electricity Supply Board, Ireland’s state-owned power utility, told PV Magazine.
Ireland has a goal of getting 40 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2020. Currently, the power system allows for intermittent renewables up to 50 percent. To meet increased intermittency from renewables, and wind in particular, the grid operators are looking at storage options.
AES is developing a 100-megawatt lithium-ion project in Northern Ireland, which will be the largest battery energy storage system in Europe when complete. There’s also a flywheel project and a 300-kilowatt, 150-kilowatt-hour ultracapacitor and battery storage project at the Tallaght Smart Grid Testbed in South Dublin County. Con Edison tests market solutions for energy storage
As part of a slew of demonstration projects for New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision proceeding, Consolidated Edison will partner with SunPower and Sunverge to integrate residential behind-the-meter storage to create a virtual power plant.
These battery assets at the grid edge will have a total capacity of 1.8 megawatts and be used to help eliminate peaks, which often come in the evening in Con Edison’s urban territory. For the demonstration, Con Edison will own the energy storage assets that will be offered through its solar partners. Even though it’s small, GTM Research's Manghani calls it “one of the most innovative behind-the-meter storage programs” because it will test at least three novel rate designs, and Con Edison will use the systems for grid applications. Open standards gain ground
As storage systems proliferate for a range of front and behind-the-meter uses, there is an increasing need for systems that can interact seamlessly with other grid assets. “Software and system controls are going to be a big part of this industry moving forward,” said Matt Roberts, executive director of the Energy Storage Association.
Earlier this year, Duke Energy, one of the largest utilities in the U.S., joined the MESA Standards Alliance, which is pushing for non-proprietary communications specifications for grid-connected batteries.
Duke Energy has also been forging ahead on its own with its growing "Coalition of the Willing," a group of grid vendors working on standardizing the way various grid-edge technologies can integrate with each other in the field. The utility has developed a real-time standard called the Open Field Message Bus, or OpenFMB, which is now part of Smart Grid Interoperability Panel’s EnergyIoT initiative.
At GTM’s Grid Edge Live conference in June, Jeff St. John reported that one of the coalition’s members, Omnetric Group, will test this IT architecture with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and it should be available in the marketplace in 18 months.
Some vendors in the industry are also adopting standards from other technology on the grid edge. Greensmith, for instance, has built an open architecture modeled after the OpenADR communication standard. PG&E looks beyond lithium-ion
Lithium-ion batteries have dominated the procurement process as California’s big utilities look to deliver 1.3 gigawatts of energy storage by 2020.
But Pacific Gas & Electric’s recently announced contracts show an appetite for a wider range of technologies. Seven vendors will deliver 74 megawatts of energy storage, including 20 megawatts from flywheel startup Amber Kinetics, making it only the second flywheel vendor behind Beacon Power with multi-megawatt deployments in North America.
There are also two zinc-air battery projects with Convergent (10 megawatts) and Western Grid (3 megawatts) that add up to create one of the most sizable utility zinc-air energy storage purchases to date.
Even if lithium-ion remains the dominant energy storage material for the foreseeable future, new technologies will get deployed as utilities turn to storage to solve different grid issues.
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Purple haze: lilac sky at night highlights China’s smog blight
Dec 23, 2015 | The Guardian
By Tom Phillips
Photographs appearing to show one of China’s most famous cities shrouded in a spectacular violet mist went viral on Wednesday, as millions of citizens choked on the country’s latest bout of toxic smog.
The fluorescent purple haze that engulfed Nanjing – reportedly the result of a pollution-tinged sunset – was at one point the second most talked-about topic on Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter.
“Who can explain what has happened to the sky?” wrote one concerned Weibo user, as tens of thousands of people posted comments on the phenomenon.
“It’s the new, grape-flavoured smog!” replied another.
Even Xinhua, China’s official news agency, weighed in, posting photographs of the unusual lilac vista on its Twitter account alongside the headline: “Pink smog?”
Some reacted angrily, claiming the Chinese media was viewing the country’s pollution crisis through rose-tinted glasses and failing to challenge Beijing over its failure to stop the smog.
“The government has not taken effective action to control the smog, and we have to pay for it with our health,” one Weibo user fumed.
“You see hazardous pollution across the whole country,” the commenter added. “I do not know what percentage of us will suffer respiratory disease, but why doesn’t the media criticise [the government over this] … rather than using it as entertainment?”
Nanjing’s Modern Express newspaper tried to calm its alarmed readers. It said the lavender-coloured skies had been caused by the combination of a sunset’s glow and a spike in pollution rather than a specific pollutant.
Liu Hongnian, a Nanjing University scientist, told the newspaper smog came in only three shades: white, grey and brown. Pink skies did not represent a new threat to the city’s residents. “People do not need to be afraid.”
Pollution levels in Nanjing on Tuesday and Wednesday were more than 10 times higher than those deemed safe by the World Health Organisation, with many schools cancelling outdoor activities.
Further north the situation was even more dramatic, if less pink.
In Beijing, which declared its first ever smog red alert earlier this month, environmental monitoring stations reported “hazardous” levels of airborne particulates such as PM2.5.
The entire province of Hebei declared its own pollution red alert on Tuesday, forcing 11 heavily industrialised cities into virtual shutdown. Factories were told to suspend activities while schools and nurseries were closed.
Back in Nanjing, internet users wondered whether the pink skies over China’s former capital represented some kind of omen.
“When the sky turns red at night, is it a sign of something?” asked one.
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Solar blowback hits Reid's Nevada
Dec 22, 2015 | PoliticoPro
By Esther Whieldon
Harry Reid’s home state dealt a lethal blow Tuesday to rooftop solar power — the latest skirmish of a nationwide green energy battle that has pitted the Senate Democratic leader against his favorite target, the Koch brothers.
The move by Nevada’s utility regulator, which voted to slash the economic incentives for homeowners to install solar panels, was most immediately a showdown between billionaires Warren Buffett, owner of the state’s largest power company, and Elon Musk, whose SolarCity is the nation’s largest installer of panels that create electricity from the sun. But it also served as a proxy fight in a national struggle about states’ green energy programs, in which free-market groups backed by industrialists Charles and David Koch have fought to roll back incentives that they argue distort the marketplace and force some customers to subsidize other people’s power choices.
The Kochs’ advocacy groups didn’t directly enter the fight in Nevada, although they have campaigned in states such as neighboring Arizona to cut back programs that allow solar-owning residents to sell their excess power back to the electric grid. And Reid has singled out the Kochs’ opposition to solar incentives as part of his litany of complaints about the billionaire brothers, whom he has accused of “trying to buy the country” to promote their pro-fossil-fuel, anti-regulation agenda.
“The Koch brothers are worth more than 135 million Americans combined," Reid told the Las Vegas Sun in August. “Why are they interested in stopping rooftop solar? It hurts their bottom line.”
Reid had no immediate comment on Tuesday’s action by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission.
The three-member panel, responding to a law signed last spring by Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, voted to slash the payments that Buffett-owned NV Energy must pay to homeowners whose rooftop solar panels feed electricity into the grid, and to hike the fees for homeowners to connect their panels to the wider power system. Companies like SolarCity and rival solar-leasing firm Sunrun have said the decision will most likely prompt them to stop operating in the state, which is the nation's fifth largest in solar power capacity.
Even more galling to solar advocates, the commission made the decision retroactive — meaning the payments will stop and the fees will rise even for homeowners who had installed their panels under the previous program.
The American Energy Alliance, a Koch-funded group that opposes these kinds of “net metering” programs, said Tuesday’s move “makes positive changes to protect all ratepayers.”
“Folks who have rooftop solar tend to be wealthier homeowners, so you have a situation where the poor and middle class are paying for the wealthy to have solar power,” AEA spokesman Chris Warren said.
Solar companies like SolarCity and Sunrun have blossomed in recent years by installing panels on homeowners' roofs at no cost, and then charging a monthly leasing fee that is typically lower than residents' monthly utility bill. But those energy cost savings will disappear after the state commission decided to cut the payment to homeowners by 75 percent, from the retail power price to the wholesale level. NV Energy can also charge rooftop solar owners a fee for allowing them to sell power to the grid.
Sunrun quickly blasted the Public Utility Commission, saying it "ignored months of public input and over 30,000 public comments and voted in favor of solar fees."
The company, which has lodged a lawsuit against Sandoval to obtain records about his interactions with NV Energy, said its industry group The Alliance for Solar Choice planned to file a lawsuit challenging Tuesday's PUC action.
The Nevada utility commission's decision does not affect large-scale solar power plants that supply electricity to utilities, like the $1 billion Crescent Dunes solar project partly financed by President Barack Obama's stimulus program, and NV Energy is a major purchaser from them.
Earlier this month, Congress agreed as part of the omnibus budget package to extend a federal tax credit for solar power to 2022, an incentive the industry has said was crucial to keeping it on a path that would make it economically viable without subsidies.
That federal victory for solar power comes as a rising number of states try to adapt their energy policies to accommodate the rising pressure from homeowners and greens — as well as libertarian groups like Georgia's Green Tea movement — to foster more growth of rooftop solar.
Another fight is playing out in Florida where a group of tea-party, environmental and solar advocates are seeking a ballot measure for 2016 that would prevent the state from regulating small solar installation. Utilities there are pushing a rival ballot initiative that would keep in place the current system that requires homeowners to sell power to the utility.
The cost to install rooftop solar installations has dropped by half in the past five years, and the rooftop companies had put panels on nearly 800,000 homes and business across the country by mid-2015.
But the success of leasing business mode has prompted utilities to push back against the net metering policies, which threaten to eat away at their business growth while increasing their costs.
By the end of 2015, total solar power capacity in the United States is expected to be near 28,000 megawatts, or enough to supply some 5.6 million homes. Still, even with the fast-paced growth, solar power provides less than 2 percent of the electricity consumed in the United States.
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SolarCity installs more than 1/3 of all U.S. residential solar in 2015
Dec 22, 2015 | PV Magazine
By Christian Roselund
SolarCity continues its dominance of the U.S. residential solar sector, according to GTM Research. The company's Leaderboard service reports puts the SolarCity's share of the U.S. residential market at 34.1% over the first three quarters of 2015.
Vivint Solar came in second, with an 11.6% market share, followed by Sunrun, NRG Home Solar and Sungevity. Sunrun bills itself as the “largest dedicated residential solar company in the United States”, however in terms of systems the company installs directly its market share was only 2.6%.
These figures are different when you count the systems financed by Sunrun but installed by partner companies. Under that metric Sunrun's share rises to 10% during Q3, however this is still behind Vivint's 11% market share.
“They are almost neck-and-neck right now,” GTM Research Solar Analyst Nicole Litvak told pv magazine. “Next year could be the year that Sunrun surpasses Vivint.”
While Sunrun is vying with Vivint for #2, the distance between SolarCity and its competitors continues to grow. Litvak notes that the company has been growing throughout 2015, and reached a market share of nearly 37% in the third quarter.
SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive said on the company's Q3 results call that SolarCity planned to slow growth and focus on becoming profitable in preparation for the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) drop-down. As such, last week's extension of the ITC could potentially lead to a change in strategy.
Together, the top five companies represent over 50% of the residential market, but Litvak notes that this is nothing new. She also says that there is still a lot of opportunity for small- to mid-sized installers.
“The market is also growing so fast that a lot of other installers outside the top five, including some of the second-tier regional installers, there is still a lot of room for them to grow,” explains Litvak.
The extension of the U.S. ITC may also benefit these smaller companies. Litvak notes that many of these companies are dependent upon loans and cash sales. These business models were expected to be impacted more by the ITC drop-down than third-party sales, as the credit was scheduled to no longer be available for individuals.
As the ITC has been extended for another three years, that is no longer the case.
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UK company aims to develop 60MW of solar in western Ireland
Dec 22, 2015 | Recharge
By Christopher Hopson
UK infrastructure and energy company Elgar Middleton plans to lodge planning applications next year to develop up to six solar farms with a combined capacity of 60MW around Limerick in western Ireland.
Partner Edward Elgar tells Recharge that Elgar Middleton has been in talks with Limerick-based businessmen, who together with local landowners are identifying suitable locations to site the solar projects.
Elgar says the six projects could cost around €66m ($72m) in total to develop.
Elgar Middleton has already identified some likely sites, and planning and grid-connection applications will be made in 2016.
“Subject to the availability of connection agreements we should be able to start construction work on the solar farms in the fourth quarter of 2016,” says Elgar.
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Africa Renewable Energy Initiative to build 10,000 MW of renewables in Africa by 2020
Dec 22, 2015 | Tree Hugger
By Michael Graham Richard
Solar for sunny Africa
The Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) aims at enabling the installation of large-scale renewable energy capacity on the African continent by 2020. The African-led plan has just received a big boost with over $10 billion worth of financial backing from various members of the international community at COP21 in Paris. Most of the $10 billion came from the European Union, Sweden and the G7 countries. In particular, Germany will contribute $3.25 billion, France $2.2 billion, Sweden $500 million and Canada $110 million. This will help provide clean power to millions across the continent.
This clean electricity is sorely needed: Approximately 600 million people have no access to electricity in Africa, with the figure expected to rise to 700 million by 2030 without further action, according to a 2015 UNEP report. As a result, many rely on wood or other biomass to cook and heat their homes, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths each year from indoor air pollution.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner said, “Africa’s renewable energy revolution will ensure access to clean, reliable and efficient energy, while ensuring we do not add to the greenhouse gas emissions we are gathered here in Paris to reduce. The Africa Renewable Energy Initiative aims to do just that. Such leadership from Africa, and the financial backing from the international community announced today, provides fresh hope that we can tackle the twin challenges of sustainable development and climate change.”
African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina said, “Africa is tired of being in the dark. The Lack of electricity has put the brakes on Africa’s industrialization. Through the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative, we can sustain fast economic growth in Africa and on a low carbon development pathway.”
Here are a few photos of the Jasper solar farm located in South-Africa (325,480 PV modules, 96 megawatts of capacity):
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