Left to right: Natalie Da Gama Rose, chief legal officer at Archwey; Sjoerd Fauser, CEO of Archwey; Frank Phuan, business CEO of EDPR Sunseap; and Rob Khoo, head of marcomms and sustainability at EDPR Sunseap

EDPR Sunseap, the Asia Pacific platform of EDP Renewables, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with PlasticBean, which is part of the Archwey sustainable materials engineering group. The MOU purpose is to explore the use of plastic that is 100% recycled in future floating photovoltaic solar farm projects in Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea.

The recycled plastic, BLUEWAVE, is a thermoplastic material derived from marine plastics, ocean-bound plastics, post-consumer waste and post-industrial waste. Collected at riverbanks and coastal areas in some of the most polluted regions in the world, it gives new life to plastic waste that would otherwise end up in oceans. 100% recycled and recyclable, BLUEWAVE pellets can be used to make the floating pontoons that keep solar farms afloat.

“EDPR Sunseap is always on the lookout for opportunities to collaborate with innovative partners to help keep our planet clean for the next generation,” says Frank Phuan, EDPR Sunseap’s business CEO. “By working with PlasticBean, we can bring the world a step closer towards a circular economy where plastic waste is recovered and recycled rather than thrown away.”

“The strategic partnership with EDPR Sunseap is an important milestone and anchors our collaboration with a pioneering clean energy solutions provider that shares our belief that a better future is possible and that we can reverse the damage humanity has done to our planet over the past century,” states Archwey CEO Sjoerd Fauser. “This is a huge step to a truly sustainable world. Using recycled plastic rather than virgin plastic in the construction of renewable energy farms demonstrates conscious action and contribution to building a sustainable future.”

“It’s essential that the world ends its dependence on fossil fuels and not just as an energy source,” adds Fauser. “Virgin plastic, made using oil, is one of the planet’s biggest pollutants. Less than 9 percent of all plastic produced is recycled. 364 million tons of plastic waste were generated every year.”

EDPR Sunseap and Archwey said the cost of the recycled plastic will be similar to or lower than plastic made from virgin materials such as crude oil.

EDPR Sunseap completed one of the world’s largest floating solar farms on seawater in the Straits of Johor last year.

EDPR Sunseap is part of EDP Renewables. Energias de Portugal is EDPR’s main shareholder with 75% stake operating across energy generation, networks and supply, including a total installed capacity of 28 GW.

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Steve Newby

Bravo Infrastructure Group LLC (BIG) has acquired Radiance Solar LLC, a commercial and industrial (C&I) solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors in the southeastern United States, through a capital partnership with Orion Infrastructure Capital (OIC).

Since 2007, Radiance has installed over 125 MW of solar across ground mounts, rooftops and canopies, including systems with battery storage. Radiance also maintains a large operations and maintenance (O&M) business serving assets throughout the southeast. To complete the purchase of Radiance, BIG partnered with OIC, a capital solutions provider to middle market infrastructure businesses with approximately $3 billion of assets under management.

“We are very excited to announce the acquisition of Radiance and our capital partnership with OIC,” says Steve Newby, owner of BIG. “Radiance is a leader in the commercial and industrial EPC market and the O&M market in the southeast. We look forward to working with their outstanding team on meeting the needs of the high growth C&I solar market. Radiance will be the perfect complement to BIG’s other solar platform, Sunshine Solar LLC, the second largest C&I mechanical installation firm in the U.S. With OIC as a partner, both companies are strongly capitalized, and we expect both to benefit from the significant growth and tailwinds in solar deployment.”

“OIC’s capital partnership with BIG and the acquisition of Radiance represents our collective conviction on the demand for C&I and community solar systems,” states Chris Leary, investment partner and head of infra equity at OIC. “We believe that our structured equity solution will further support environmentally innovative distributed power generation solutions for customers focused on sustainability.”

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CellCube is the trading name of Enerox, headquartered in Vienna, Austria. Image: Enerox/Cellcube.

Bushveld Minerals is restructuring its investment in vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) firm CellCube, increasing it slightly to 27.6%, as part of its own energy storage business carve-out.

The primary vanadium producer has entered into conditional agreement for a complex deal that will effectively increase its holding in Austria-based Enerox, better known by its brand name CellCube, from around 25% to 27.6%.

CellCube is one of the longest-running VRFB firms in the world with 23MWh deployed globally across 130 systems, and has had a busy 2022 expanding its project portfolio.

Bushveld Minerals, meanwhile, is one of the three primary vanadium producers in the world along with Largo Resources and Glencore. This transaction, explained in more detail below, is part of the firm’s strategy to create a dedicated energy storage business.

Deal structure

The agreed transaction involves special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Mustang Energy, and VRFB Holdings Limited, a vehicle which owns 50% of CellCube (or rather its 100%-owning parent company Enerox).

Mustang Energy and Bushveld Minerals subsidiary Bushveld Energy currently own 49.5% and 50.5% of VRFB Holdings Limited respectively, giving them both around 25% of CellCube. (This was after a transaction in August covered by Energy-Storage.news at the time, which hasn’t technically completed.)

The deal announced today (28 November) will see Bushveld Energy sell its 50.5% stake in VRFB Holdings Limited to Mustang, for a consideration of US$19.4 million, leaving Mustang with 100% of VRFB Holdings Limited.

However, Bushveld will be paid via the issue of 69,353,604 new shares in Mustang as well as the conversion of existing loan notes in Mustang (held by Bushveld Minerals) to additional shares. After that is completed, Bushveld Minerals and Bushveld Energy together will hold 51.5% of Mustang.

That shareholding means that Bushveld will hold 27.6% of Enerox/CellCube (because Mustang owns 100% ownership of VRFB Holdings Limited which owns 50% of Enerox/CellCube).

As part of the sale, Bushveld Energy will have the right to appoint two directors to the board of Mustang and will enter into a lock-in agreement and relationship agreement.

Bushveld said the transaction with Mustang is an important step in its process to carve out Bushveld Energy from the Bushveld Minerals Group.

“The transaction provides Bushveld Energy access to the capital markets and will allow the company to achieve a transparent market value and attract specialist investors looking to participate in this exciting growing sector,” said Fortune Mojapelo, CEO of Bushveld Minerals.

“From our early days of investigating ways to support the development of VRFBs as a competitive long-duration energy storage (“LDES”) solution, Enerox was identified as a leader in the space with a compelling LDES proposition. The company has since gone from strength to strength with over 130 systems now deployed across five continents.”

“As we have communicated in recent months, we feel this is the right time for this emerging energy storage story to take on a life of its own, while still keeping an interest in the business and most importantly maintaining our vertically integrated business model.”

The transaction is conditional on regulatory approval as well as Mustang’s publication of a prospectus and readmission of its enlarged share capital on to the London Stock Exchange.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the eighth annual Energy Storage Summit EU in London, 22-23 February 2023. This year it is moving to a larger venue, bringing together Europe’s leading investors, policymakers, developers, utilities, energy buyers and service providers all in one place. Visit the official site for more info.

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Another Leeward project, Union Ridge Solar, located in Licking County, Ohio.

Leeward Renewable Energy (LRE) has closed approximately $420 million in construction to term financing from MUFG Bank Ltd. and a $195 million tax equity commitment from Wells Fargo for its Big Plain Solar Facility located in London, Ohio and its Oak Trail Solar Facility located near Moyock, N.C.

MUFG served as the green loan structuring agent, coordinating lead arranger and administrative agent for the construction to term financing, arranging financing commitments from eight financial institutions and Export Development Canada (EDC). The debt was issued under the Green Loan Principles, which aim to facilitate and support environmentally sustainable economic activity.

“We are pleased to have secured financing for our Big Plain and Oak Trail projects, marking another significant milestone in the development of our solar energy portfolio,” comments Chris Loehr, senior vice president of finance. “These agreements demonstrate the continued confidence financial institutions hold in our project portfolio and performance as we continue to execute on our contracted 2022-2023 pipeline. We appreciate the continued support from each of our participating financial institutions, particularly under terms that help advance and enhance LRE’s own environmental and social initiatives.”

“MUFG is proud to have partnered with Leeward Renewable Energy on another important project,” states Beth Waters, managing director of project finance at MUFG. “Supporting our clients in building sustainable and renewable energy sources is a crucial tenet of our business, and we look forward to working closely with Leeward on future projects.”

In 2021, Wells Fargo established its Institute for Sustainable Finance, which supports clients and communities to accelerate the transition to an equitable, low‑carbon economy, including the deployment of $500 billion in financing to sustainable businesses and projects by 2030. Approximately $68 billion in sustainable finance was deployed in 2021.

“We are proud to provide tax equity financing to Leeward for this solar portfolio,” comments Samantha Buechner, director in Wells Fargo’s Renewable Energy & Environmental Finance group. “We look forward to continuing to support Leeward and the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

The Big Plain and Oak Trail Solar facilities are currently under construction and, when completed, will provide a combined 296 MW of renewable energy to Verizon Communications under a long-term power purchase agreement. Both projects are expected to reach commercial operation by mid-2023.

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A NovaSource service professional at a renewable energy site. Image: NovaSource.

It’s time the battery storage industry adopted an approach to servicing like the model widely adopted by the global solar PV industry, writes Robb Wilson of NovaSource Power Services.

The global market for battery energy storage system (BESS) technology is set to change in a major way. New battery storage is coming online at an ever-accelerating rate and the importance of properly servicing and maintaining it will be crucial to our future energy system.

At present, a majority of preventative maintenance and monitoring services are performed by integrators themselves.

This is proving to be an issue, as the primary focus of these equipment sellers will be their largest revenue driver: equipment sales. And for the foreseeable future, demand will strongly outpace supply, meaning that even when equipment may not perform well, it will likely find buyers – further removing the motivation of equipment sellers to prioritise service. 

However, in order to ensure optimal performance of PV-plus-storage installations, the service side of the operation should be left in the hands of those who focus solely on just that, service.

This is extremely important, as the growth of the solar industry relies on the continued performance of these installations. Not only will sub-par performance hinder individual plants, but it can erode the perceived value proposition of investors and operators looking to construct similar solar-plus-storage installations.

Instead, to ensure better performance across the industry, BESS servicing should follow the path of O&M in the solar PV market – by shifting over to those focused solely on service.

Instead of plant operators simply trusting battery integrators to provide the best service in an area that they aren’t necessarily focused on, they should be asking: “Who can provide the most valuable service and has a proven track record?”.

When looking at performance figures, it is becoming abundantly clear what kind of partner can ensure the most reliable energy returns over the long term.

Specialists can apply servicing know-how at portfolio level

Moving to a service focused partner to maintain BESS brings a number of clear advantages that can unlock a new level of performance and reliability for a plant – advantages that are even more pronounced when applied to an entire portfolio of assets.

Moving to an independent service partner means working with someone familiar with the full scope of the plant – understanding the intricacies of the points of interconnect, and how each component works together.

Independent service providers who specialise in this also have access to more plant data, allowing them to better leverage that data to increase performance and alleviate issues before they occur.

It is also important to realise that the market for BESS is still in its infancy – meaning identifying and aligning with experienced partners is especially important. Although it is clear that the market will scale and become a significant part of the renewable energy landscape, experienced service teams are still few and far between.

Power to transform the energy sector

Thankfully, some of the issues that are currently holding back the BESS market are set to subside in the coming years. One of those barriers is the current supply constraints in the battery industry as a whole.

According to analysis firm Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, only 4% of the global battery cell production for 2022 is committed to BESS.

Another barrier is the fact that utility scale BESS sites are still not functioning to their full potential.

Thankfully, these two issues can work themselves out concurrently. As the understanding around BESS grows, the economic benefits of committing more battery cells to solar plants will become clearer – this makes it ever more important for these plants to be serviced by experienced teams that specialise on these plants.

Again, Wood Mackenzie gives reason to be optimistic, estimating that 172GW/630GWh of BESS will be installed between 2021 and 2031.

At NovaSource, we view BESS as an important pillar of the energy system of the future, and have thus placed an early focus on the technology. Becoming a leading provider of BESS servicing will allow us to leverage data to move the industry as a whole forward.

It is an exciting time to be in the renewable energy space, and the convergence of multiple technologies should allow for significant progress in moving towards a net-zero energy system.

BESS has the power to transform solar PV into a far more valuable and useful power source – I’m looking forward to helping these plants perform to their highest potential over the coming decade.

About the Author

Robb Wilson is the Director of Pre-COD and BESS Products and Services at NovaSource Power Services. Robb has more than a decade of experience in solar PV O&M and is currently focused on working on solutions to better integrate battery systems into solar plants. 

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ACWA Power and PLN’s MoU signing in Bali. Image: ACWA Power.

ACWA Power and a state-owned power company in Indonesia will jointly investigate potential energy storage and green hydrogen projects in the Southeast Asian country.

Saudi Arabia-headquartered renewable energy and infrastructure developer and investor ACWA Power said last week that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed with PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), Indonesia’s monopoly electric power distribution company and main electricity generator.

PLN is the country’s exclusive purchaser of energy generated by independent power producer (IPP) assets and operates or owns about two-thirds of Indonesia’s entire electric power generation fleet, with a total portfolio of 65.5GW.

The pair’s partnership will investigate various possible initiatives, including feasibility and other studies for a pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) facility at a 600MW to 800MW hydroelectric power plant, a potential 4GW battery energy storage system (BESS) project, and a hydroelectricity-powered green hydrogen or ammonia production facility.  

The MoU was signed in Bali at G20/B20 summit talks as Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and prime minister Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud made a state visit. Signatories included ACWA Power and PLN’s CEOs, while also in attendance were Indonesia’s director general for electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and other officials and dignitaries.

“PLN and ACWA are exploring the development of renewable energy projects and technological advancements in solar PV, wind, hydro, pump storage, battery peaker, battery storage, tidal, and geothermal. In fact, we will jointly develop green hydrogen and green ammonia facilities,” PLN CEO and president director Darmawan Prasodjo said.

ACWA Power entered the Indonesian market just a few weeks ago after PLN selected the developer to execute two large-scale floating solar PV (FPV) projects in the country, representing a total investment value of US$105 million.

As reported by our colleagues at PV Tech at the beginning of this month, ACWA will hold a 49% stake in the two FPV projects, while a PLN subsidiary will own the rest. At the time, ACWA chief investment officer Clive Turton described Indonesia as “an exciting market,” with government support for renewable energy, “an understanding of global challenges, considerable demand and an urgent need to supply the country’s numerous residents”.

Rising population’s rising power demand

In 2020, 69% of Indonesia’s primary energy consumption was met with coal (37%) and petroleum (32%), and 17% from natural gas, according to Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources statistics. Just 4% came from geothermal and non-hydroelectric renewables, with the rest from other sources including hydroelectric (3%).

The country has pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2060 or sooner and bring its share of electricity generated from renewables to 23% by 2025.

A recent report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) found that while Indonesia’s demand for power is projected to grow fivefold as its population approaches 335 million by 2050, the country could make overall energy cost savings – and reduce the impact of externalities like air pollution – by investing in making renewable energy two-thirds of its power mix.

In March, PLN signed an MoU with Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC), another state-owned company, for the construction of a pilot 5MW BESS project, as reported by Energy-Storage.news at the time.

Indonesia also looks like it could be a host site for large-scale renewable energy-plus-energy storage projects, which will serve the nearby city-state of Singapore. PLN signed an MoU with Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries for a solar-plus-storage project on Indonesia’s Batam-Bintan-Karimun island region in October last year, which would serve both local power needs and transmit power to Singapore via a subsea cable.

Another Singapore company, renewable energy developer Sunseap plans 7GW of solar PV paired with 12GWh of storage in another island region to transmit power back overseas – or in this case undersea.

In August, ACWA Power reported an operating income of SAR1,153 million (US$307.46 million) during the first half of 2022, with its year-on-year profit for the period increasing by 21%.

As of the end of June the company had a portfolio of 42.7GW, of which 15.7GW is renewable energy. Sister site PV Tech today reported that ACWA Power has just signed another MoU on green hydrogen, with the government of Thailand.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 1st Energy Storage Summit Asia, 11-12 July 2023 in Singapore. The event will help give clarity on this nascent, yet quickly growing market, bringing together a community of credible independent generators, policymakers, banks, funds, off-takers and technology providers. For more information, go to the website.

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Chile has several GW of installed wind power, including the Parque Eolico. Image: Diego Correa / Flickr.

The renewables arm of multinational energy firm Enel has started work on a project combining wind turbines and a 34MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Chile.

Enel Green Power Chile is investing US$190 million in the project which pairs 22 wind turbines of 4.8MW each, totalling 105.6MW of power, and a 34.3MW lithium-ion BESS.

The La Cabaña wind farm will be located in the Araucanía Region in the municipality of Angol. Enel did not spell out explicitly if the BESS will charge directly from the wind or just share grid connection and other infrastructure, but Fabrizio Barderi, the firm’s general manager for Chile, indicated in a press release it is most likely the former.

“Through the development of La Cabaña, we are also continuing our strategy of hybridisation of non-conventional renewable generation plants. This wind project is Enel Chile’s first using storage batteries, through which we will have greater flexibility in managing the plant,” he said.

As Energy-Storage.news reported in October, Chile has passed major legislation which aims to incentivise the deployment of energy storage and EV technology at scale. For energy storage, it will allow standalone systems to receive income from dispatching their energy and power in the country’s National Electric System market.

Most energy storage projects in the country to-date have been co-located with large solar PV arrays (read all of Energy-Storage.news’ coverage of these here). As everywhere, co-location with wind in Chile is at a much earlier stage due to much more onerous cycling requirements on the battery and a much larger battery size required.

However, Engie Chile last year won project rights to develop two hybrid systems combining solar, wind and battery storage with a combined capacity of 1.5GW. And Statkraft, which has acquired wind projects in development in Chile, told Energy-Storage.news a few months later that it was considering pairing a 1GWh BESS with a 100MW wind array.

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The Garzweiler Mine where the battery storage projects are being built. Image: RWE.

European utility and power generation firm RWE is building two co-located energy storage projects totalling 10.6MW in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany.

The solar and storage projects are being built in the Garzweiler opencast lignite mine near Bedburg, in the district of Rhein-Erft, and will be commissioned in spring 2023.

The first is a solar PV and battery storage system being built directly below an existing operational wind farm (Königshovener Höhe), which will total 19.4MWp of solar power and 6.5MW/13MWh of energy storage. Construction on the unit has already started.

Meanwhile, the second project, called Jackerath, will total 12.1MWp of solar PV and 4.1MW/8.1MWh of battery storage and will be located at the western edge of the mine.

Both projects were awarded to the company under Germany’s Innovation Tender for solar and storage projects, which will see them receive an additional fixed market premium per kWh of energy to offset technology investment costs.

The solar PV arrays will comprise a combined total of 58,340 bifacial modules, which RWE project manager Christian Meisen said would make the PV array ‘extremely efficient’, adding: “And with the batteries, feed-in can be optimally tailored to meet demand. We are implementing this integrated plant concept at several locations at the same time.”

However, as with the investment tax credit for co-location in the US, some companies in the market have said publicly that the Tender’s requirement to only charge from the solar PV is not the best use of the energy storage asset (read a long-form feature about the German utility scale energy storage market in the most recent edition of PV Tech Power, sister site PV Tech’s quarterly journal).

RWE brought another solar and two-hour duration storage project with 9.6MWh capacity online in a separate lignite mine in spring this year, also in NRW where it is headquartered and much of its activity is concentrated.

The firm has committed to a 2029 closure of all its lignite mines in Germany, and has plans to build 500MW of renewable generation assets just in its mines around the Rhine river, including 200MW of wind.

It is also building substantial standalone battery storage projects in Germany’s most populous state including two units totalling 220MW while a 72MW project is scheduled for operation by the end of this month.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the eighth annual Energy Storage Summit EU in London, 22-23 February 2023. This year it is moving to a larger venue, bringing together Europe’s leading investors, policymakers, developers, utilities, energy buyers and service providers all in one place. Visit the official site for more info.

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Officials and dignitaries including South Australia’s premier Peter Malinauskas visiting the Goyder South project in August. Image: Neoen.

Neoen has signed a grid connection agreement for a renewable energy project in South Australia where the company intends to deploy one of its next large-scale battery systems.

A 30-year Transmission Connection Agreement (TCA) was signed with network provider ElectraNet for Neoen’s Goyder South Project last week.

The project is an energy hub that could potentially include 1.2GW of wind generation, 600MW of solar PV and 900MW of battery storage, around two hours’ drive from South Australia’s capital city, Adelaide.

The first phase of Goyder Renewables Zone comprises a 209MW wind farm, which represents roughly the first half of the first stage of the overall project, with the next to take the capacity to 412MW of wind power.   

Grid interconnection rights are in some ways the most valuable component of an energy project in Australia, as is the case in many other territories. For battery storage, access to the grid means access to wholesale markets for grid services and energy trading and therefore to revenue streams.

However, as reported by Energy-Storage.news as the first phase of the planned AU$3 billion (US$2.01 billion) Goyder South Project won planning approval from authorities in 2021, subsequent capacity additions depend on the progress of Project Energy Connect, an interconnector which would take power generated in South Australia into New South Wales.

The interconnector is being co-developed by ElectraNet and Transgrid, which operates and maintains the high voltage network in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Construction work on the 900km interconnector began earlier this year.

French renewable energy developer and independent power producer (IPP) Neoen began early construction works to install turbines at Goyder South in January. Turbines are being provided by US manufacturer GE Renewable Energy.

In August, South Australia’s state premier Peter Malinauskas and energy minister Tom Koutsantonis visited the Goyder South site to celebrate the project’s progress.

Neoen meanwhile already has a track record for delivering some of Australia’s most significant battery energy storage system (BESS) projects to date.

That includes the Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia, which was the country’s first grid-scale BESS over 100MW/100MWh, and the Victorian Big Battery, which at 300MW/450MWh is Australia’s biggest project of its kind so far.

Neoen recently reported from quarterly financial figures that its energy storage revenues have tripled, driven largely by its Australian battery storage portfolio, to which it is adding the 100MW/200MWh Capital Battery near Canberra, ACT. The Capital Battery is currently under construction, with Neoen having achieved financial close in October.

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June 2021 inauguration of the 50MW initial phases of the project. Image: Jinko Solar.

A 50MW solar PV plant in Togo will be expanded to 70MW capacity, creating West Africa’s biggest PV project, while grid-scale battery storage will also be added at the site.

The announcement was made yesterday by Dubai-based developer, owner and operator of renewable energy assets AMEA Power, which developed the 50MW Mohammed Bin Zayed Solar Power Plant.

The project came about as AMEA Power signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Togo’s national agency for public distribution and sale of electricity, La Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET).

Ground was broken and the first phases got underway with a ceremony attended by Togolese president Faure E. Gnassingbe in February 2020, as reported by our sister site PV Tech at the time. An inauguration took place after commissioning in June 2021. Solar PV modules for the plant were supplied by Tier 1 manufacturer Jinko Solar.

The first power plant in the country developed and brought online by an independent power producer (IPP), AMEA Power noted that the development took place during the COVID-19 pandemic and was completed within 18 months.

This week, a financing agreement for the next stages of the project was signed. In addition to the 20MW PV expansion, a 4MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) will be added at Mohammed Bin Zayed Solar Power Plant.

Under terms of the agreement, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development’s (ADFD’s) Abu Dhabi Exports Office (ADEO) is going to provide a US$25 million loan to Togo’s Ministry of Economy and Finance.

That loan will support the PV capacity expansion and battery storage installation. AMEA Power said construction will be carried out by its AMEA Technical Services subsidiary. AMEA Technical Services is currently the solar PV plant’s operations and maintenance (O&M) provider.

The project supports Togo’s aim of enabling universal access to electricity in the country and raise its share of renewable energy in its energy mix to 50% by 2030 under its National Development Plan.

According to statistics collected by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and published in October 2021, prior to the 50MW plant coming online Togo had less than a megawatt of installed solar capacity, versus 100MW heavy fuel oil (HFO) and other fuel oils, 67MW hydroelectric, 48MW diesel and 20MW natural gas.

Its total generation capacity stood at about 235MW, while access to electricity was available for just 43% of the population. While 79% of people in urban areas had access, that was the case for just 16% of the rural population.

Last year in June, Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms (AIIP), a Pan-African infrastructure development group, opened a tender for a 390MW PV plant with 200MW BESS to be built at a mixed used industrial park near Togo’s capital Lomé. The project would be strategically located to support industrial and logistics centres serving West Africa through the country’s coastal region, AIIP said.

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