Africa sees 645 MW of renewables completed in May

From the newsletter

Every month, Renewables Rising tracks clean energy projects under development across Africa. The month of May saw the announcement of more than 5,000 MW in new renewables. Egypt finished construction of a 500 MW wind project ahead of time, and Chad witnessed the completion of its first grid-tied solar plant with battery storage.

• The sector is witnessing increased investments in battery energy storage, with projects totalling over 5,800 MW for both standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS) and those integrated with solar.

• Scatec kicked off construction of Egypt's mega solar project with battery storage. The project had raised financing from players including EBRD ($30m), the Arab Energy Fund ($90m), and other DFIs.

More details

• The Renewables Rising project database for renewables under development across Africa relies on media monitoring and on-ground data collectors. We aim for but cannot guarantee 100% comprehensiveness.

• Since February, we have tracked 132 projects totalling over 21,000 MW in various renewable energy technologies. Of these projects, solar dominates, accounting for more than half, followed by hydropower, wind, and biomass.

• In May, we added 36 projects: 17 in solar and battery storage (4,143 MW), five in wind (738 MW), and four in hydropower (205 MW). These projects were spread across 18 African countries, with only Nigeria and Egypt having total megawatts of projects exceeding 1,000 MW.

• Nigeria led the countries with the most new projects at 2,023 MW, followed by Egypt at 1,625 MW. However, Nigeria's projects were mainly in the announcement phase, about 1,900 MW, with no funding raised so far. 

• Battery energy storage projects increased in West Africa, with countries launching their first BESS projects. Chad, Togo and Senegal together had hybrid solar projects with a combined BESS capacity of 150 MWh. Senegal had the largest BESS at 90 MWh, a project that kicked off construction last week.

• Zambia added 418 MW, the third-highest overall, and the country with the most projects at seven. Zambia's energy challenges, related to the drought affecting its hydropower generation, are pushing the country to move fast in adopting other renewables. It has multiple projects in the pipeline and recently changed its policy to reduce project approval timelines to just 48 hours, making it easy for projects to progress.

• Wind energy adoption remains largely limited to North and southern African countries. Despite the technology's decline in prices, it is yet to be used widely to harness power in other African countries.

Our take

• Looking forward, solar projects are expected to keep dominating the renewables space. As projects move from small to large, integrating them with battery energy storage is becoming crucial to reduce grid intermittency. These two technologies will likely grow together.

• Though still early, a wind manufacturing plant in Morocco will cut down costs and significantly contribute to growth in North Africa. Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco will likely adopt this technology at a higher scale.

• Key will be how soon projects currently in the announcement and pre-construction phases progress. The sector has seen a positive investor climate. Developers are also moving fast to meet deadlines, which reduces overall investment risks.