The 1,800 inhabitants of Assikro and Nanan Assouakro in the Moronou region of Ivory Coast have been connected to the national electricity grid.

The work was financed by the Ivorian state to the tune of 267 million CFA francs, or around 421,000 euros.

Also, two localities in the region, namely Assikro in the sub-division of Arrah and Nanan Assouakr in the sub-division of Bongouanou have just been connected to the national electricity grid.

In Assikro, 10 km of medium and low voltage lines have been installed to connect the village’s 1,000 inhabitants. According to reports, at least 55 poles and lampposts have been installed as well as a transformer.

The entire project was financed by the Ivorian government to the tune of 183 million CFA francs (nearly ‘279,000). 

“The electrification of Assikro is part of the government’s social programme, that aims to improve the living conditions of Ivorians. In this village, students will be able to work longer and women will be able to develop income-generating activities thanks to this electricity,” says Abdourahmane Cissé, the Minister of Petroleum, Energy and Renewable Energies.

In the village of Nanan Assouakr, around 800 inhabitants have been connected to the national electricity grid at a cost of more than 84 million CFA francs (more than 128,000 euros).

The electrical powering of the localities of Nanan Assouakr and Assikro was carried out on the 9th and 10th of September 2020 respectively by the President of Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara.

Other electrification projects underway in Moronou region

In Assikro, the Electricity for All Programme (PEPT), launched in June 2019, in the Indénié-Djuablin region, also enables people to have an electricity meter at 1000 CFA francs (over 1.5 euros) instead of 15,000 CFA francs (nearly 22.9 euros).

The programme, which ends in 2020, should enable nearly 114,000 households to benefit from electricity at a lower cost. It is noted that access to electricity should be improved in the Moronou region in the Centre-East of Ivory Coast

At least six villages in the sub-division of Bongouanou, in the Moronou region will soon be electrified as part of the National Rural Electrification Programme (Proner) launched on June 28, 2019. ‘

It aims at electrifying villages with more than 500 inhabitants by the end of 2020. Currently, 43 localities in Bongouanou have access to electricity, a coverage rate of 86.5%.

By Peace Obi

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) at the weekend insisted that Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) must not increase tariffs of customers enjoying less than 12 hours of power supply from the new electricity tariff regime.

NERC Commissioner, Legal Licensing and Compliance, Mr Dafe Akpeneye, made the clarification during the regulatory agency’s online town hall meeting with customers on the new electricity tariff regime.

DisCos had on Sept. 1 announced the implementation of new Service Reflective Tariff Plan (SRT) across their franchise areas.

The DisCos said the classes of customers had been categorised into five bands, adding that bands D and E are under the category of those not enjoying 12 hours daily power supply, consequently not affected by the new tariff plan.

Responding to claims by some customers that the DisCos were not adhering to the increment terms, Akpeneye maintained that those below 12 hours supply daily should not experience any increment.

He explained that the hours and bands were decided by the commission after consultations but customers were assigned to the bands by the DisCos.

Akpeneye said, “Anyone who is enjoying less than 12 hours of electricity must not have their tariffs increased.

“Customers who receive electricity service below the band they have been assigned can have the DisCos move them to the actual band of electricity service they receive.

“Unhappy? Contest the band classification you have been assigned.”

He said in order to protect unmetered customers from exploitation by the DisCos, NERC came up with “Parity with Neighbours”.

“This is the principle we are applying with unmetered customers. It basically means as an unmetered customer, you cannot be charged more than your metered neighbour,” the commissioner said.

Akpeneye also disclosed that NERC had mandated all DisCos to invest in infrastructure in order to increase power supply to customers.

By Peace Obi

Photovoltaics by far the world’s leading power-generating technology installed in 2019; 45% of capacity added was solar with one-third of all countries making it their top choice

New York and São Paulo, September 1, 2020 – Photovoltaics (PV) dominated as the main new power-generating technology source added to grids in dozens of countries ranging from Australia, to India, Italy, Namibia, Uruguay and the U.S. in 2019. With a record 118 gigawatts constructed, PV topped all other technologies in new-build terms and was the most popular technology deployed in a third of nations, according to complete and proprietary data compiled by research company BloombergNEF (BNEF).

In all, 81 countries built at least 1 megawatt of solar during the last calendar year and solar accounted for nearly half of all new power generation capacity constructed worldwide.

The findings are highlighted in BNEF’s new Power Transition Trends 2020 report and online tool, which tracks detailed capacity and generation data over the past decade. Both are based on country-level data compiled by BNEF analysts directly from primary country sources, the current through 2019.

The report highlights the enormous strides solar has made in a decade, rising from just 43.7GW of total capacity installed in 2010 to 651GW as of year-end 2019. Solar in 2019 also moved past wind (644GW) to become the fourth-largest source of power on a capacity basis, behind coal (2,089GW), gas (1,812GW), and hydro (1,160GW). There is now more wind and solar capacity online worldwide than total capacity from all technologies, clean or dirty, in the U.S.

“Sharp declines in solar equipment costs, namely the modules that go on rooftops and in fields, have made this technology widely available for homes, businesses and grids,” said Luiza Demôro, BNEF analyst and lead author of the study. “PV is now truly ubiquitous and a worldwide phenomenon.”

On a generation basis, solar’s contributions are considerably smaller due to PV’s lower capacity factors compared to fossil fuels. In 2019, solar accounted for 2.7% of electricity generated worldwide, BNEF found, up from 0.16% a decade ago. Given the inexpensive nature of the technology and the limited penetration on a generation basis, BNEF expects the market to continue to grow, with 140-178GW of new solar to be built in 2022.

The data offer other important insights on how the world is generating electricity. From 2018 to 2019, power produced from coal dropped 3% as plants ran less frequently. This marked the first fall in coal generation since 2014-2015 and while the world has far more coal plants online today than a decade ago, those plants are running less often. The average utilization rate at coal-fired power plants has dropped from 57% in 2010 to 50% in 2019. Still, the 9,200 terawatt-hours (TWh) produced from coal in 2019 was up 17% from 2010.

Global coal capacity surged 32% over the decade to reach 2.1TW in 2019. Over 113GW of net coal retirements in developed nations during the 2010s could not offset the 691GW flood of net new coal in emerging markets. In 2019, the world saw 39GW of net new coal capacity installed, up significantly from 2018 when 19GW of coal was completed.

“Wealthier countries are moving quickly to mothball older, largely inefficient coal plants because they can’t compete with new gas or renewables projects,” said Ethan Zindler, head of Americas at BNEF. “However, in less developed nations, particularly in south and southeast Asia, new, more efficient coal plants continue to come on line – often with financial support from Chinese and Japanese lenders.”

Other findings from the new data include:

• Wind and solar accounted for over two-thirds of the 265GW of new capacity installed worldwide in 2019, up from less than a quarter of new build in 2010. For the first time, the two technologies also accounted for the majority of new generation recorded in 2019. Including hydropower, renewables made up three-fourths of 2019 commissioned capacity.
• Wind and solar build were mostly concentrated in wealthier nations during the first half of the 2010s but that has shifted recently. In a group that includes nearly all OECD nations, wind and solar have accounted for the majority of new capacity built each year since 2011. Among a group of non-OECD nations plus Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Turkey, wind and solar have accounted for the majority of annual build each year since 2016.
• BNEF estimates that the global power sector CO2 emissions slipped 1.5% 2018-2019 as declines in the U.S. and EU more than offset an increase from China, which accounted for 37% of the 2019 total. The U.S. followed with 14% and the EU with 6%.

The Power Transition Trends 2020 report and tool are based on data collected individually from 138 nations through 2019. This encompasses every country in the world with over two million inhabitants.

Separately, BNEF has been tracking power production in 25 of the world’s largest developed markets daily in 2020. Based on those preliminary data, BNEF expects total global generation, coal generation, and power sector CO2 emissions to fall further in 2020. Emergency responses to Covid-19 have slowed economies and cut electricity demand in at least 20 major nations vs. business-as-usual scenarios calculated by BNEF.

Source: Bloomberg

Ghana’s bid to end its chronic electricity shortage has gone awry as the country can no longer afford the deals it signed with investors, reports have said.

The deals’ terms require the government to pay for electricity generated even if there’s no demand for it.

Of course, this move helped Ghana end its power crisis by 2016, boosting its generation to about 4,600 megawatts, well above national peak demand of 2,700 megawatts.

The Chamber of Independent Power Producers, Distributors and Bulk Consumers disclosed that as at end of the June, Ghana’s indebtedness to the power companies grew to $1.4 billion more than doubling from $600 million in July last year. Adding that members of the chamber may be forced to shut their operations.

“Debt levels could rise even further,” Samantha Singh, a Johannesburg-based Africa strategist at Absa Bank Ltd., said.

“The potential increase in these liabilities could hurt government finances even further in a time it is already strained due to COVID-19.”

President Nana Akufo-Addo when he assumed power in 2017 started the sale of so-called energy bonds on the back of fuel levies to clear the outstanding liabilities.

This helped cut the debt by half by early 2018, but more bonds haven’t been sold because there isn’t enough revenue to support them.

The state-owned Electricity Co. of Ghana Ltd. is reported to have suffered an estimated annual revenue loss of $580 million due mainly to transmission leakages, illegal connections and unpaid bills.

 Plans to tackle the problem by introducing private investors under a U.S.-funded aid program failed to win approval.

The company’s managing director, Kwame Agyeman-Budu, have also refused to comment on the issue.

Much help isn’t coming either from the West African Power Pool project, under which member countries could sell their excess power to neighbors. While Ghana was a net exporter of 967 megawatts of electricity to other countries in 2019, further exchange is hindered until 2023, when current interconnection projects will be completed.

The coronavirus pandemic pushed Ghana further into financial straits. It responded with more than 3 billion cedis ($519 million) in unplanned spending that included providing free electricity and water to citizens, tax waivers and credit to small businesses, a situation that made it difficult to keep up with the debt repayments, according to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.

“When you have limited resources in a Covid environment you have to be specific about what you are paying and how much you pay. We have tried to keep the lights on for these four years,” Ofori-Atta said.

By Peace Obi with Agency Report

US-based energy company, Ashipa Electric has announced plans to inject 5MW of power into underserved communities in Nigeria in the next 18 months.

The company has just been announced as a member of Techstar’s Alabama based EnergyTech Accelerator class of 2020. The startup works to provide sustainable, clean and affordable energy to underserved businesses and communities in Africa, the Caribbeans and the United States.

Ashipa Electric said it will be leveraging the wide network and business mentorship provided by Techstars to tackle some of the most pressing energy issues, not just in Africa, but globally.

The Founder and CEO, Olu Ajala reiterated the significant energy gap in Nigeria and in many vulnerable communities across the world.

The Louisiana State University and Carnegie Mellon University-trained energy professional emphasized that growing up in Nigeria and the US helped shape his outlook towards energy deficit in some parts of the world.

Ajala said he is fully committed to closing the gap in alignment with SDG 7, Sustainable Energy for all.

By Chibisi Ohakah, Abuja