Off-grid operators seek agency for solar power

Operators in the off-grid electricity space have urged the Federal Government to establish a designated agency that will oversee the activities of players in the power market.

Off-grid electricity operators, particularly those involved in the installation of solar gadgets through which electricity is generated, stated that it was important to
have policies in place that would guide the practice in Nigeria.

Speaking at the monthly power sector dialogue organised by Nextier Power in Abuja
to discuss pragmatic ideas for developing Nigeria’s electricity market, stakeholders
noted that the awareness and acceptance of solar power was increasing and as such
there should be specific agency to handle policies for effective management of the
sub sector.

The Technical Lead, Solar Nigeria, Mr. Tinyan Ogiehor, highlighted the opportunities
and challenges in the off-grid electricity space and proposed policies to tackle the
challenges in the market.

He urged the Federal Government to come up with workable policies, adding
that some of them could include “off-grid mapping, technical skills, mobile infrastructure and a designated body to drive the off-grid electricity market.”

The Head, Power and Procurement Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, Mr. Yesufu Alonge, said there were huge investment opportunities in the solar energy market due to the electricity supply deficit in Nigeria.

He mentioned dams and other renewable energy sources as good alternatives to stabilise the poor power supply across the country.

The acting Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr.
Tony Akah, stated that the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005 only gave the NERC the authority to issue licences for power generation over one megawatt and empowered the NERC to set tariffs for operators.

Expert urges FG to promote local manufacturing of solar panels

Technical Director of IPgrupp Engineering, Mr Shola Daley, has called for the local manufacturing of solar electricity Photo Voltaic (PV) panels in the country to accelerate the setting up of more solar plants across Nigeria, The Tide reports.

Daley said that Nigeria had the required raw materials to manufacture the PV panels locally. He said it was expensive importing PV panels into the country, adding that their expensive nature was a bane to speedy development of solar energy in the country.

He said it was important for government at all levels to provide an enabling environment for investors to invest in the manufacturing of PV panels in the country. He called on government to create policies designed at reducing the cost of setting up PV panels manufacturing companies.

Egypt to construct 1,000 MW solar power station, solar panels factory with $3.3bn of Chinese funding

Egypt is to construct a 1,000 MW solar power station and a solar panels factory that will be implemented in two stages, 500 MW each. According to the agreement, it is expected that China will fund the establishment of the station and the factory with $3.3bn in concessional financing.

A meeting was held on Tuesday between the Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr, Minister of Military Production Mohamad Al-Assar, and Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker, to discuss the recent developments related to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was signed on 27 July to construct the solar power station with a capacity of 1,000 MW and a solar panels factory.

The Ministry of Military Production announced earlier in May during the Third Annual Energy Conference that it is evaluating the possibility of constructing a factory to manufacture solar panels in Egypt.

This project would complement the MoU signed by the Ministry of International Cooperation with the Ministry of Military Production and China to exchange experiences, help local production, and the transfer of technology and knowledge required to manufacture and produce solar energy from silicon panels.

Nasr stressed that the latest negotiations with China come in the framework of cooperation between the three ministries to support the energy sector by diversifying sources of energy and increasing the usage of renewable energy.

However, many solar companies had disputes with the Ministry of Electricity over the agreement for purchasing solar energy according to the feed-in-tariff system, which led to the withdrawal of many solar energy companies from the projects, such as Cairo Solar, Scatec Solar, and EDF.

Kaduna state plans waste to electricity project

Kaduna state’s Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Muhammad Abdullahi has said that plans were on to generate electricity from domestic waste in the state, Vanguard reports.

He said the idea was developed during the “My Great Kaduna Competition” by Lwahas Adoniram, who emerged the winner. Adoniram suggested that waste could be converted into huge employment opportunities with the local construction of turbines powered by domestic waste.

“We have already entered into discussion with the Federal Ministry of Environment and [it]has shown interest to partner with us to make the project a reality,” the commissioner said.

Solar Delivers Cheapest Electricity ‘Ever, Anywhere, By Any Technology’

Chile has just contracted for the cheapest unsubsidized power plant in the world, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) reports.

In last week’s energy auction, Chile accepted a bid from Spanish developerSolarpack Corp. Tecnologica for 120 megawatts of solar at the stunning price of $29.10 per megawatt-hour (2.91 cents per kilowatt-hour or kwh). This beats the 2.99 cents/kwh bid Dubai received recently for 800 megawatts. For context, the average residential price for electricity in the United States is 12 cents per kilowatt-hour.

“Solar power delivers cheapest unsubsidised electricity ever, anywhere, by any technology,” BNEF Chair Michael Liebreich said on Twitter after this contract was announced.

Carlos Finat, head of the Chilean Renewable Energies Association (ACERA) told Bloomberg that the auction is “a strong warning sign that the energy business continues on the transition path to renewable power and that companies should adapt quickly to this transition process.” Indeed, in the same auction, the price of coal power was nearly twice as high!

Grid-connected solar power on Chile has quadrupled since 2013. Total installed capacity exceeded 1,000 megawatts this year — the most by far in South America. Another 2,000 megawatts is under construction, and there are over 11,000 megawatts that are “RCA Approved” (i.e. have environmental permits).

Chile is aided by the fact that its Atacama desert is “the region with the highest solar radiation on the planet,” according to the Inter-American Development Bank. So much solar is being built in the high-altitude desert that Northern Chile can’t use it all, and the government is rushing to buildnew transmission lines.

Chile is part of a global trend where solar energy has doubled seven times since 2000. In the U.S. alone, it has grown 100-fold in the past decade thanks to a sharp drop in prices that has brought the cost of solar (with subsidies) to under four cents a kilowatt hour in many places, as I detailed last month.
The future for solar could not be sunnier.

Delay in coal to power development due to exorbitant tariff – Fashola

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola at a meeting with the Acting Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Hajiya Ladi Katagum gave reasons why investment decisions on the development and deployment of coal power generation into Nigeria’s energy mix had been delayed, ThisDay reports.

Fashola revealed that there was a significant gap in the retail tariff proposed for coal as against the current tariff approved for gas and hydro power generation in the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

He said promoters of coal power wanted their tariff set at N36 per kilowatts hour (kwh), that is, N12 above the current N24/kwh average tariff used in the MYTO. The MYTO tariff is currently also under contention by consumers as being quite high. As such, he said this had to be structured properly in the power purchasing agreements (PPA) with the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) before moving forward.

Japanese govt donates $9.7m solar power project to Nigeria

The Japanese Government, through its agency, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has donated a solar power project worth $9.7 million and capable of generating 1,496MWH to the Federal Government to boost electricity in the country, The Punch reports.

The Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria, Mr Sadanobu Kusaoke, disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday during the inauguration of the project. He said, “Since from 1970s, Japan has helped to finance power sector to increase the capacity of power in Kainji dam hydro power station. “This is the 10th project of power sector by the Japan’s government since then and this will not be our last.”

He said the project which entailed the introduction of clean energy by solar electricity was donated by the government of Japan to boost power and water supply at Usman Dam Water Treatment Plant. He said, “The project is being executed with grant assistance worth Nine Hundred and Eighty Million Japanese YEN (980,000,000 JPY) (equivalent to approximately 9.7 million USD) through JICA.”

TCN requires $7.5bn for transmission capacity expansion by 2019 – MD

The Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says its on-going five year expansion programme, designed at expanding electricity transmission capacity to 11,500 Mega Watts(MW) by 2019 will require 7.5 billion dollars, BusinessDay reports.

He said part of the strategic plan was to boost its transmission capability to 8,200MW by the end of 2018, to ensure steady power supply. This he said, would be realized by completing eight of its new projects in 2018. He said that the ultimate expansion programme was designed to ensure the completion of 59 projects by 2019 in line with a total transmission capacity of 11,500MW.

He explained that the five-year plan had also been carefully developed with the overall aim of realizing uninterrupted power supply through the realization of 20,000MW by 2022. He also added that with the restoration of critical equipment hitherto neglected by the previous management, the transmission system has been relatively stable with zero system collapse.

Costa Rica celebrates 113 days of 100-percent renewable energy (and counting)

Costa Rica is much more than a lush, green tourist paradise; it’s also a green energy pioneer. The small Central American nation has generated 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources for the past 113 days, and the run isn’t over yet. The country, which draws clean energy from a variety of renewable sources, still has its sights on a full year without fossil fuels.

With a 113-day stretch of 100-percent renewable energy under its belt and several months left in the year, Costa Rica is edging closer to its target. Costa Rica could be on track to match the record set with its renewable energy production last year, which accounted for 99 percent of the country’s electricity. That included 285 days powered completely by renewable sources, according to the Costa Rican Electricity Institute.

Costa Rica is able to take advantage of a multitude of renewable energy sources because of its unique climate and terrain. Most of the nation’s renewable energy comes from hydropower, due to its large river system and heavy tropical rainfalls. Solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal energy also play key roles.

The tropical nation aims to be free from fossil fuels in just five years. With hefty investments ingeothermal energy projects and a forecast for more heavy rains in the coming years, that goal could be accomplished even sooner than originally planned.

Sokoto IPP set to add 38mw of electricity to national grid

Mr Garba Haruna, the Managing Director of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company has said that the Sokoto State-owned Independent Power Project (IPP) will inject 38 megawatts of electricity into the national grid when energized, Leadership reports.

Haruna said: ”The lPP project is certainly a reality as it has reached over 90 per cent completion stage. ”The line had since been run into the transmission where the power will be up taken into the national grid. ”We are also assuring that the electricity to be so generated by the project will be domesticated for use by the people of the state.”

Haruna said that the firm was positively discussing with the state government on the modalities to ensure effective utilisation of the project. He said efforts would be made to ensure that the project would be fully operational and worthwhile.

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USTDA says it is accepting clean energy project proposals in Nigeria, others

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency is expanding its investments in sustainable energy projects across sub-Saharan Africa. An implementing agency of both the Power Africa and U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance (US-ACEF) initiatives, USTDA invests in project preparation activities designed to generate renewable and gas-fired power, modernize electric grids and increase energy efficiency. The Agency’s programs are available to help African project sponsors prepare bankable clean energy projects.

Interested project sponsors in sub-Saharan Africa – or U.S. companies working with African project sponsors – should submit an initial proposal (not to exceed five pages) to USTDA no later than Monday, September 26, 2016 at 5:00pm Eastern Time to be considered for funding. To get further information and begin the proposal process, please contact PowerAfrica@ustda.gov. Proposals will be considered for funding under both Power Africa and US-ACEF.

Power Africa is a U.S. government-led initiative that addresses one of the most pressing challenges to sustainable economic growth and development in sub-Saharan Africa: access to electrical power. President Obama launched Power Africa to bring together technical and legal experts, the private sector and governments from around the world to increase the number of people with access to power. Power Africa aims to increase installed power capacity by adding more than 30,000 megawatts of cleaner, more efficient electricity generation capacity and 60 million new home and business connections. USTDA’s investments under Power Africa provide critical early-stage support to advance new power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure.

US-ACEF is a U.S. State Department-funded program that aligns U.S. government resources to support significant private sector investments in African clean energy infrastructure. Under this program, USTDA is leveraging its project preparation expertise to support clean energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as coordinating with the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation to link renewable energy projects to sources of financing.

Geometric Power, GE conclude plans for 500Mw power plant

A former Minister of Power and Chief Executive Officer, Geometric Power Limited, Prof. Bart Nnaji, has said the firm concluded plans to build a 500-megawatt power plant, in collaboration with General Electric, at a cost of over $900m, The Punch reports.

He spoke in Lagos on Thursday at the 11th Annual Project Management Lecture organised by the Department of Building, University of Lagos, on ‘Sustainable Development of the Power Sector: The role of project management.’ He said the United States government’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation would invest about $213m in the project.

Nnaji said, “We are in the development phase. We started work on the project in January 2013 and by the end of this year, we will reach financial close, when all the agreements will have been closed and banks agree to put down money for the commencement of construction.”

3000MW Mambilla hydro plant crucial to Nigeria’s power security – Fashola

Nigeria’s minister for Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has stated that the Mambilla Hydro Power Station is likely to be the most defining factor in the road to incremental power, potentially adding 3000MW to the grid, BusinessDay reports.

Fashola said this in a speech delivered at the 2016 edition of the National Association of Energy Correspondents conference in Lagos titled “Gas to Power: Challenges and Opportunities”. “Also solar and other renewable energies will also play a major role in our roadmap to incremental power. We have recently signed 14PPAs for the delivery of 1,125MW of solar. Other renewable energy projects, such as the 10MW wind plant  in Katsina are also in various stages of completion,” he added.

He said during this dispensation, government’s role in the energy sector as policymaker and regulatory supervisor, will focus on the roadmap for the power sector developed by the administration. “Our roadmap for change is premised on a simple but effective strategy of providing incremental power which will lead to steady power which will lead to uninterrupted power. I can confidently declare that this strategy is delivering results,” he said.

How to Get Solar Panels Onto More Affordable Apartment Buildings

Solar power seems like the ultimate no-brainer. Free energy from the sun! And the cost of installing solar panels — like other renewables — has plummeted in recent years. Still, solar power has not yet penetrated one of the markets that needs it the most: affordable multifamily housing.

That could change, thanks to the advent of solar photovoltaic systems with backup battery storage (solar + storage). A new report, “Closing the California Clean Energy Divide,” shows how solar + storage can overcome technical and financial problems that discourage owners of affordable apartments from embracing solar. Coauthored by the California Housing Partnership, Center for Sustainable Energy, and Clean Energy Group, the report says solar + storage systems could nearly eliminate electric bills for owners of affordable apartment buildings in California. And those savings could — with the right policies and strategies — be passed on to tenants.

The first problem solved by solar + storage is the bane of all solar energy systems:night. We expect our electric meters to keep spinning along, even when the sun doesn’t shine. (This is the dreaded “intermittency” that challenges other renewable energy sources as well.) Solar + storage handily defeats this problem, by banking excess energy generated in the daytime to be used after the sun goes down.

In this way, solar + storage tackles another insidious problem: utility demand charges. These are fees that utilities charge commercial customers based on their highest peak power use during a billing period, and such fees can make up half of the electric bill for some apartment buildings. A stand-alone solar system withoutbattery storage might not be able to shrink peak demand — because, for example, demand could still be high on a cloudy day. But solar + storage can reduce overall demand for grid power and lower peak use, thereby helping some building owners avoid demand charges. And adding storage to a solar system isn’t prohibitively expensive; it adds only about a third on top of the cost of stand-alone solar.

These cost savings also can hedge against future electricity price increases, which are poised to become a real problem. As solar gets big enough to threaten their bottom line, utilities are trying to roll back incentives like “net metering,” which lets solar-powered households sell their surplus energy back to the grid for a profit. Without those incentives, affordable housing owners who invest in stand-alone solar systems will see higher electric bills. But solar + storage can make the economics work better and bring more financial benefits to developers and tenants. “Installing solar without batteries is leaving money on the table,” says Lewis Milford, president of the Clean Energy Group and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

There are other benefits, too. Solar + storage can make affordable housing more resilient. When the larger grid goes down, a solar system with battery backup can power life-saving services like water pumps, fire alarms, heating, and cooling. That means apartment dwellers can “shelter in place” during an emergency — which can be a lifeline for low-income residents, the disabled, and others who are vulnerable in times of disaster. And, of course, by reducing carbon emissions, solar power helps mitigate climate change, making disasters less likely for everyone.

So, is solar + storage the game changer that finally brings clean energy to the masses?

It certainly could be in California, where owners of affordable housing have many reasons to go solar. The state legislature recently established a groundbreaking Multifamily Affordable Housing Solar Roofs Program and earmarked up to $1 billion in cap-and-trade funding over 10 years to incentivize solar installations on such buildings. But even in states with a less favorable regulatory climate, the benefits of battery storage may tip the scales in favor of solar for many building owners.

Still, if owners of affordable housing adopt solar en masse, will the cost savings get passed on to tenants? While the answers to that question are beyond the scope of “Closing the California Clean Energy Divide,” its authors suggest a few ways to make that happen — including a shared savings model that ensures tenants get a portion of demand charge savings. The authors are planning a series of papers that will explore how additional benefits could be delivered to tenants.

“There are lots of ways to make sure that tenants benefit from solar in affordable multifamily housing,” says Milford. “But first, you have to make sure that the owners and developers want to install solar.” As this report makes clear, there has never been a better time to do so.

Nanostructured device grabs solar energy to disinfect water

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have created a nanostructured device, about half the size of a postage stamp that disinfects water with solar energy.

As sunlight falls on the device, it triggers the formation of hydrogen peroxide and other disinfecting chemicals that kill more than 99.999 percent of bacteria in just 20 minutes, much faster than putting germy water out in the sun in a plastic bottle for six to 48 hours to allow ultraviolet rays to kill the microbes.

"Our device looks like a little rectangle of black glass. We just dropped it into the water and put everything under the sun, and the sun did all the work," said Chong Liu, lead author of a report published on Monday in Nature Nanotechnology.

The device consists of thin flakes of molybdenum disulfide arranged like walls on a glass surface and topped with a thin layer of copper. Light falling on the walls triggers formation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and other disinfecting chemicals that kill bacteria. (courtesy of Stanford)

Under an electron microscope, the surface of the device looks like a fingerprint, with many closely spaced lines. Those lines are very thin films, or "nanoflakes" of molybdenum disulfide that are stacked on edge, like the walls of a labyrinth, atop a rectangle of glass.

Molybdenum disulfide, which is cheap and easy to make and is normally used as an industrial lubricant, takes on entirely different properties when made in layers just a few atoms thick.

In the SLAC/Stanford experiments, molybdenum disulfide becomes a photocatalyst: when hit by incoming light, many of its electrons leave their usual places, and both the electrons and the "holes" they leave behind are eager to take part in chemical reactions.

By making molybdenum disulfide walls in just the right thickness, the researchers got them to absorb the full range of visible sunlight. And by topping each tiny wall with a thin layer of copper, which also acts as a catalyst, they were able to use that sunlight to trigger exactly the reactions they wanted.

In this case, the reactions are to produce "reactive oxygen species" like hydrogen peroxide, a commonly used disinfectant, which kill bacteria in the surrounding water.

However, the method does not remove chemical pollutants from water, according to a news release from Stanford.

Although there is no reason to think it would not kill other bacterial strains and other types of microbes, such as viruses, so far it has been tested on only three strains of bacteria, and on specific concentrations of bacteria mixed with less than an ounce of water in the laboratory, not on the complex stews of contaminants found in the real world.

Still, "it's very exciting to see that by just designing a material you can achieve a good performance," Liu said. "It really works."

Hydro plants boost Nigeria’s power generation to 3,686.3mw

Nigeria has managed to attain electricity generation and supply of 3,686.3MW after several months of blackout occasioned by cuts in gas supply to power plants largely as a result of high water levels at the nation’s dams, which enabled the three hydro power plants namely, Jebba (360mw), Shiroro (600mw) and Kainji (440mw) to operate at optimal capacity, The Guardian reports.

Data from the current daily operational report of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) for yesterday, showed that Kainji Hydro with 440mw installed capacity is currently generating 305mw, Jebba with installed capacity of 360mw is working at full capacity while Shiroro with installed capacity of 600mw is generating about 560mw.

Other power plants, which have also contributed significantly to the rise in electricity, include Egbin Steam, with installed capacity of 880mw, which is contributing 407mw. Sapele is also generating at full capacity. This, is notwithstanding the country’s unutilised power generation due to gas constraints which stood at 4,517mw, as at yesterday.

An Engineer Speculates on the Tesla/SolarCity Solar Roof

Elon Musk made headlines recently when he announced that the newly merged Tesla and SolarCity would be building solar roofs - not solar panels on roofs, but roofs made of solar panels. These would be intended for new constructions and replacement roofs. He provided no details of the design, so I thought I'd speculate on some possible features. Please add your thoughts in the comment section below.

Aesthetics and Performance

Musk said that many people don't go solar because they don't like the way it looks. I'm not sure that anyone has conducted a scientific survey to test that assumption, but it seems logical, so we'll go with it. The new roof needs to look good as well as generate electricity. How does that happen? In stages.

A few years ago, Dow released its Powerhouse line of solar shingles - roof shingles with built-in thin-film photovoltaic panels. Although they're shaped like asphalt shingles and lie flat on the roof, they still have the unmistakable look of PV panels. Also, thin-film PV modules have lower efficiency and shorter lifespans, which doesn't help the cost/benefit tradeoff. Apparently, Powerhouse didn't catch on; Dow is discontinuing the product, as of June 2016.

Image courtesy of Dow

SunTegra makes solar panels that integrate into the roof, essentially replacing the shingles rather than being mounted to a rack on the roof. Although these panels are efficient monocrystalline PV cells and they sit flush with the roof, they're clearly visible as something that "doesn't belong." Musk wants a roof that looks like a roof. This doesn't fit the bill.

Image courtesy of SunTegra

I recently wrote about Sistine Solar, an upstart company that's making aesthetically pleasing solar panels that look like roof shingles and are available in virtually any color or pattern. The company says that its patent-pending process uses a very thin layer of color that looks great but allows most of the sunlight to pass through it, trading off a little efficiency for a lot of beauty. SolarCity already makes one of the highest efficiency solar panels on the market today, so a marriage between SolarCity and Sistine Solar could produce a high-performance panel that looks like a roof. If I were a matchmaker, I'd introduce these companies to each other. "You two would make a great couple!"

Image courtesy of Sistine Solar

Storage

Musk's plan is to integrate storage - likely some variation of the Powerwall - with every PV system. This pretty much rules out the use of microinverters, which convert DC to AC at the panel level. Instead, an intelligent, grid-tied string inverter with a built-in battery charge controller and the ability to automatically disconnect from the grid during a power failure (anti-islanding) will be required.

Safety

Rooftop solar presents a safety issue for firefighters: PV panels are always live when they're receiving light, so a building that's on fire during the day could pose a double-threat to rescue workers. Most jurisdictions require a safety perimeter around the edges of the roof, giving firefighters room to navigate. The SolarCity roof would need the same boundary, but assuming the panels are "invisible," it's difficult to know exactly where that boundary will be. Among all the challenges of a fully-integrated solar roof, I think this one is the biggest. How would you address it?

Durability and Longevity

Although PV panels are made of rigid silicon and covered with glass, they're quite durable. They're designed to survive reasonable hailstorms - pretty much anything that normal roof shingles can withstand. And while we usually discourage people from walking on them, the panels on the MS Tûranor, a solar powered boat, can be tread upon. This shouldn't be a problem for a solar roof. Friction, or the lack thereof, will be an issue, however, since most roofs are angled. The surface of a solar roof could be similar to that of a Solar Roadway. (Frankly, I've never been a fan of the Solar Roadway concept, but maybe one aspect of its technology can be useful in solar roofs.)

Today's PV panels are typically guaranteed for 25 years, although most can generate power well beyond that. The shingles on a roof usually last 25 years as well, but assuming the shingles have done their jobs, the underlying structure of the roof should last the life of the house. This is where the integrated solar roof could be problematic. It's one thing to reshingle a roof every 25 years, but nobody wants to replace the structure at the same time. I'm picturing a structural component with a snap-in solar module; it's easy to install and the structure can remain intact when the PV modules need to be replaced. This would also help in the rare cases where a PV module fails and needs replacement before its expected end of life.

Cost

The first Tesla vehicles were priced well out of the range of average consumers. The idea was to develop and perfect the technology using affluent, socially-conscious customers as "test subjects," and use that experience to eventually produce something that's within reach of the middle class. Will that also be the approach here? Obviously, Musk wants to electrify as many rooftops as possible, but it could take a couple of generations (of technology, not people) before solar roofs are affordable for the masses. One thing that could help is that a solar rooftop would be a fully-integrated system, which would lower the design, installation, and permitting costs - the so-called "soft costs."

What Would Tesla Do?

"... it is only through enlightenment that we become conscious of our limitations. Precisely one of the most gratifying results of intellectual evolution is the continuous opening up of new and greater prospects." - Nikola Tesla

Elon Musk named his car company after Nikola Tesla because the inventor was more interested in helping humanity than achieving wealth and fame. Musk, having earned prosperity and notoriety in other ventures, seems to be willing to risk a good chunk of his fortune on very ambitious projects that may or may not become profitable. Assuming the shareholders are patient and share his values, Tesla and SolarCity will continue to push the boundaries of renewable energy.

Scatec Solar secures 100mw solar project in Nigeria

Scatec Solar has signed an agreement with CDIL, a Canadian renewable energy development company focused on Africa to secure a 100 megawatt (DC) solar power plant in Nigeria.

 A post on the company’s website stated that the contract was signed alongside BPS, a Nigerian strategic consulting firm, enabling it to officially secure the solar power plant built by Nova Scotia in Jigawa State.

This agreement was announced in connection with Scatec Solar’s second quarter results, following the signing of a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) between Nova Scotia Project Company and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) on July 21, 2016.

A long-term player with an installation track-record of close to 600 megawatts, Scatec Solar will develop, build, own and operate the solar power plant in Jigawa. The project is expected to reach financial close in 2017, and commercial operations 12 months after.

Currently, Scatec Solar produces electricity from a global network of 404 megawatts of solar power plants, and is a leading independent solar power producer in Africa, with nearly half of this capacity located on the continent.

The company, which is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, is producing electricity in the Czech Republic, South Africa, Rwanda, Honduras, Jordan and the United States.

Its construction of an additional 22 megawatts in Jordan is underway, while its backlog and pipeline of more than 1.5 gigawatts is under development in the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

 “Solar power in Nigeria has significant long-term potential, and we want to take part in the development of this new market,” said Raymond Carlsen, CEO of Scatec Solar.

Accoording to him, this investment is the culmination of an extensive review during which the Nova Scotia Power project stood out due to its exceptional fundamentals.

 Carlsen also assured that, with the quality of its site, development standards and equity funded by Scatec Solar and its partners, the project is ideally positioned to progress rapidly to financial close.

“We recognized the importance of partnering with a sponsor able to bring the project to financial close and with whom we share a long-term vision. We are proud of teaming up with Scatec Solar, who has demonstrated its unique ability to deliver similar projects in Africa”, said Arif Mohiuddin, president and CEO of CPCS, the parent company of CDIL.

Nemoante, Green Continent Partners to develop solar plants at Jebba and Kainji dams

Nemoante of Nigeria and Green Continent Partners of Germany have signed an Agreement with Mainstream Energy Solutions of Nigeria to develop large scale Solar Power Plants in close proximity to Jebba and Kainji Dams, two of Nigeria’s largest hydro electric facilities in Niger State. The developers also have an agreement with Niger State for future developments.

Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited is a power generation company, operating the Kainji and Jebba Hydro Power Dams following the privatization of the Nigerian power sector, under a 30-year concession agreement with the Federal Government. Mainstream therefore has access and rights to large land sites in the immediate vicinity of the Dams that can be used to operate large-scale grid connected solar power plants. Mainstream Energy Solutions is therefore committed to excellence in power generation which is fundamental to its corporate philosophy and culture. The company is very committed to the vision of becoming a world class power generation company, a company driven by the desire to improve the living standards of the people.

Nemoante and Green Continent Partners started to develop renewable energy projects in Nigeria in 2012 and signed PPP agreements with Niger and Kogi State government in the middle belt of the country. Where there are excellent transmission, good logistics/security, complementary generation, available land, good energy yields and load centers. The spearhead project of both companies is “Middle Band Solar One”, a 100 MegaWatt fully licensed and developed project in Kogi State. This project is one of the most well developed Solar PV projects in Nigeria issued with a NERC on-grid generation license and an executed Power Purchase Agreement with NBET, an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria. IFC, a member of the World Bank group, is a co-developer of this project. The project aims for financial closing and construction in 2017.

Mr. Erabor A. Okogun, Managing Director from Nemoante: “We are a leading Project Developer in the region and our steep industry learning curve, innovative project structuring and financing expertise enables us to partner with bankable industrial partners and to build world class power projects not only to increases the country’s energy supply but also helps mitigate climate change. Nemoante is the only indigenous IFC development partner for projects of this kind in Nigeria.”

Mr. Arjen Pen, CEO from Green Continent Partners: “The available land around the Hydro dam sites in Jebba and Kainji benefit from excellent grid connection points to the national grid of TCN as they will use the same substations as the Hydro Electrical dams, who are currently a significant backbone of base-load power supply in Nigeria. The concept of blending two renewable energy sources (water and sun) is very exciting”.

Nigeria’s grid deficit hovers around 14,622Mw

A report from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has revealed that electricity consumers connected to the national grid need additional output of 14,622megawatts (Mw) to meet their requirements, The Nation reports.

The company’s daily operational report showed that between Sunday and Tuesday this week, the national peak demand forecast was 17,720Mw while generation stood at 3,097.3Mw, reflecting a shortfall of 14,622.7Mw. Generation to the national grid, according to the report, has been about 3,000Mw since July, when attacks on gas pipelines by the Niger Delta militants started reducing.

The TCN also said the nation has installed transmission capacity of 11,165.40Mw while the functional facilities, if optimally utilised, can supply 7,139.60Mw. The shortfall may be due to several constraints, including facility breakdown. The Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Mr. Sunday Oduntan, said the estimated national peak demand forecast of about 17,000Mw by the TCN is only a fraction of the actual national demand as the huge energy-consuming firms are not connected to the grid.