When power parastatals learn new tricks to survive

May 27, 2025

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East Africa's leading electricity generating company, KenGen, has launched a tender for a Design and Build Contract for its first solar plant with battery energy storage systems. The initiative is being funded by the French government. KenGen, a Kenyan parastatal, is primarily known as a producer of geothermal energy, ranking top in Africa.

  • The renewables competition between state-owned corporations and private entities in Africa is driving shifts in business models. South Africa's power utility, Eskom, is another state entity that recently announced it is venturing into solar and other renewables.

  • Kenya is facing increased electricity demand that threatens its grid stability. No new power purchase agreements have been signed since 2018. The country has relied on electricity imports, mainly from Ethiopia, as a short-term solution.

  • Our take: The energy transition will reshape the business models of state-owned utility companies who have long relied on fossil fuels… Read more (2 min)

This month's Tech Watch spotlights Artificial Intelligence in African energy. South African solar-as-a-service provider Wetility has launched "AI Mode", a new software solution that enhances electricity savings and improves power supply for consumers. This comes as South Africa grapples with rising electricity prices and persistent power cuts.

  • The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) energy market is forecast to reach a value of $422.2 million by 2030. This represents a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 38% from 2025.

  • Current innovations include resource forecasting, system optimisation, predictive maintenance, and smart grid management, which improve reliability and reduce costs. Companies pioneering AI in energy include Uganda’s SolarNow, DR Congo’s Nuru and Kenya’s SunCulture.

  • Our take: The shift from hardware-focused solutions to intelligent software demonstrates a maturing African renewable energy market… Read more (2 min)

In today's opinion article, Prof Roula Inglesi-Lotz, head of energy and economics research at the University of Pretoria, argues that South Africa's approach to the energy transition needs a fundamental rethink. She asserts that planning must become more forward-looking, anticipating future skills needs instead of reacting to shortages after they arise.

  • Prof. Roula has co-authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters in energy and economics. She is also the founding President of the South African Association for Energy Economics (SAAEE).

  • She points out that a just transition extends beyond green jobs and requires citizens to understand its implications for their daily lives and economic choices. She also notes that youths have a crucial role to play.

  • Click here to read her opinion article.

Remote Energy in partnership with Women in Sustainable Energy and Entrepreneurship graduates a cohort of  solar PV systems trainees in Kenya

Events

🗓️ Sign up for a forum on strengthening Nigeria's energy independence (May 31)

🗓️ Enhance your solar PV systems  design skills (Jun 3)

🗓️ Attend the Power & Energy Kenya event (Jun 26)

Jobs

💼 Become Uwana Energy’s Finance Manager (Nigeria)

🦺 Lead Baker Hughes’s field engineering operations (Egypt)

👨🏻‍💼 Join Scatec as an ED Analyst (South Africa)

Various 

💰 Borna invests $40m in Egypt for gas recovery, carbon capture

🔋 Globeleq chooses Sungrow for 153 MW South African battery project

💸 Standard Bank commits $67.3m for Namibia's 44 MW Diaz wind project

🔌Three energy companies partner on the DRC mine's hybrid solar project

Seen on LinkedIn 

Anthony Akivembe, Director of Business Development at Omnivoltaic Energy Solutions, asks, “What if the fastest path to rural electrification… is through clean transport?”