Ramokgopa outlines plan for blended-finance structure to meet 2030 universal access goal

Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has provided an outline of a revised universal access strategy that employs a blended financing approach to electrify, by 2030, the more than 1.6-million households in South Africa that still do not have access to electricity. Speaking in Parliament, Ramokgopa said the new model would move beyond the traditional grid-only approach that had hitherto dominated South Africa’s multi-decade electrification programme, and include micro- and off-grid technologies.
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Zambian company developing solar energy projects to address country’s energy shortfall

Zambia’s Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) expects to significantly expand the country’s renewable-energy capacity, by adding a projected 800-MW-plus of solar energy to the national grid, by the end of 2027. This programme is in line with the country’s efforts to diversify its energy sources in the face of climate change-induced shortfalls in its hydropower generation.   Zambia has always had predominantly green energy, in the form of hydropower from the Kariba dam. When the dam is full, Zambia’s share of the electricity generated is 3 GW, while the country’s demand is about 2.5 GW. But growing aridity in the Kafue and Zambesi rivers’ catchment areas has resulted in low dam levels, cutting its generating capacity significantly. Currently, Zambia is suffering from a generation shortfall of some 1.3 GW.
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