UK-based PV company Solarcentury is collaborating with the EU and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on a €5.7 million (US$6.56 million) electrification project in East Africa.

UK-based renewable energy company BBOXX announced Monday that it met with Faure Gnassingbé, the President of the Republic of Togo, to discuss the “CIZO” presidential initiative.

South Africa’s main utility Eskom said it has identified a need for as much as 2,000MW of energy storage on its networks, and has opened a testing facility to find the technologies most suitable.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has put out a tender request for a 25MW hybrid solar-diesel-storage project in Sierra Leone.

Electrification of remote areas of the developing world using solar, storage and microgrids can and should go further than just providing basics like lamps and phone chargers.

Sami Khoreibi, CEO of renewable energy project developer Enviromena, discusses storage in the Middle East and Africa’s energy market in the next decade.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is continuing its mission of funding priority development projects in emerging economies, this time by signing two grants that leverage US technology and investment to increase access to affordable, reliable electricity in Kenya.

Clearly, renewable energy is now a viable alternative to traditional generation from a cost perspective. However solar and wind’s penetration of the grid is constrained by ageing infrastructure, high grid connection costs and their intermittent, weather-dependent nature. Scott McGregor looks at how long-duration energy storage on an industrial scale can help.

French hybrid energy storage solutions provider Electro Power Systems has secured an equity-linked financing deal to the sum of €30 million (US$31.88 million) with the European Investment Bank (EIB).