Date: 28 May 2021

Organizer: SolarPower Europe

Description: African countries are in a unique position to reap the socio-economic and environmental benefits of renewable energy resources to meet their increasing energy demand in a sustainable way. However, the difficulty of attracting sufficient and affordable finance is an obstacle to building more solar projects in Africa.

The financing costs of a solar project are a function of the capital needs from investors and the returns demanded by these investors, and usually consist of a mix of debt and equity. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is a measure to express the average financing cost of a project. 

Studies show that the WACC in African countries can be several times higher than in European countries. Therefore, counter-intuitively, solar electricity might be cheaper in a low-sun and low-risk country in Europe than in an African country with a higher level of solar irradiation. De-risking policies and financing mechanisms can reduce the perceived or actual investment risks and barriers and bring the cost of capital down, ultimately leading to a boost in the construction of new solar projects. 

The webinar, organised by SolarPower Europe and supported by GET.invest – a European programme supported by the European Union, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Austria – will gather African and European experts to shed light on how to reduce the levels of cost of capital for solar projects in Africa.

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Date: 27 May 2021

Organizer: ESI Africa

Description: New real-time analytics like Linear State Estimator and Effective Inertia are dramatically improving the way the grid is operated. With applications like Dynamic Model Validation and Calibration, the plant owners and grid operators can now use the data to better predict the dynamic behaviour in many more situations.

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Date: 26 May 2021

Organizer: ALER

Description: The first ALER Talk will take place on May 26 at 10:30 am with the theme "New Regulatory Framework for Renewable Energy Projects in Angola" where they will discuss the conditions that are being created to promote private investment in the development of new renewable energy projects, namely the publication of new regulations and a regime of incentives.

This session will be exclusively in Portuguese.

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Date: 20 May 2021

Organizer: Solar Power Africa

Description: This collaborative Solar Power Africa Webinar in conjunction with the IDC and SAESA will focus and address the mandate of SAESA and an overview of the battery storage market. The IDC will also unpack their experience and successes in the battery storage industry, and will address the funding provided by the IDC and the criteria related to a funding bid.

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Date: 20 May 2021

Organizer: AFSIA

Description: For the C&I market, the reliability of the electricity supply is essential for the economic growth of the activity. In Nigeria that regularly experiences several electrical outages, a solar hybrid system must tackle this challenge. Indeed, integrating solar PV and/or batteries with existing backup gensets unlocks PV production during the blackouts. Storage systems can be added to increase reliability and reduce fuel consumption. In this webinar, Jinko Solar and Elum Energy experts will explain their solutions to design and install a reliable solar hybrid system. They will present some use cases on existing hybrid solar projects in Commercial & Industrial (C&I) in Nigeria and West Africa.

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Date: 20 May 2021

Organizer: AWEaP

Description: African Women in Energy and Power is hosting a free information sharing webinar with speakers from the private and public sector.

The webinar will cover the topic: Advancing and supporting the participation of women entrepreneurs in the Energy and Power Sector.

An energy revolution is happening in South Africa where new and cheaper renewable energy technologies are driving change in the sector. We are seeing the emergence of non-traditional electricity value chains, which presents new entrepreneurial opportunities for women, youth and people living with disabilities.

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Date & Time: 5 May 2021 at 12 pm GMT

Organizer: ESI Africa

Description: Though countries across Africa are exploring ways to exploit their own gas assets the continent remains the globe’s lowest consumer of gas. Integrating gas into the domestic renewables energy sector is an ongoing quest that competes with gas exploration for export purposes.

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Date: 18 May 2021

Organizer: Access to Energy Institute (A2EI)

Description: The Access to Energy Institute (A2EI) has launched its global “Climate Impact Payments Platform” (CLIPP), joining forces in a pilot project with five offgrid solar companies providing larger solar business systems and productive use appliances. At the core of the CLIPP is a data driven, fully automated set of algorithms which radically reduce the complexity of conventional results-based financing schemes to support distributors to achieve a faster scaling of climate smart technologies.

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Date: 17 May 2021

Organizer: IRENA

Description: Since 2013, IRENA has examined policies for renewable energy deployment in cities, published a series of short case studies of cities around the world, and generated a number of technical tools and planning platforms.

IRENA is now launching a set of new reports and briefs on Renewable Energy Policies for Cities. They analyse policy experiences around the world, offer case studies of selected cities in China, Uganda and Costa Rica, and discuss sectoral challenges and opportunities in the power sector, buildings, and transport. This webinar will present main findings, with a view toward the motivations and objectives that compel cities to act; the variety of drivers that either enable or constrain cities’ actions and thus influence what they can do; and the policy tools they can apply. Shaped by these factors, cities can play a multitude of roles.

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Date: 11 May 2021

Organizer: EnergyNet

Description: Three very specific and highly engaging topics have been circulated in advance and the sessions will be interactive - participants are encouraged to come with questions as well as being prepared to answer questions from the moderator.

• 09:30– 11:00 UTC (10:30- 12:00 BST): Gas for Growth – What role will the LNG terminal play in Ghana’s energy and economic future?
• 11:30- 13:00 UTC (12:30- 14:00 BST):  Energy efficiency in transmission and decentralised energy – can the introduction of new REIPPs reach the last mile and what plans are there to upgrade infrastructure, extend regional transmission lines and utilise latest technologies; what affordable funding is available?
• 14:00– 15:30 UTC (15:00- 16:30 BST): Ghana’s wholesale electricity market and trading excess power – how can the government optimise the excess supply for industry, can they create a market where the price of generation decreases and can it be redirected to agriculture, industry, manufacturing, vaccine making?

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Date: 4 May 2021

Organizers: Columbia - Global Centers Nairobi, SIPA Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) and Ifri’s Center for Energy & Climate

Description: Affordable and reliable electricity access from renewable energy sources is a prerequisite for the development of sustainable and healthy cities in sub-Saharan Africa.

In light of the growing urban population and the sector’s difficulties in expanding at the same rate, people and businesses increasingly have an incentive to use additional ways to generate electricity to meet their energy needs. If solar systems are starting to be deployed in cities, polluting diesel generators remain the preferred means for tackling grid failures. These phenomena are resulting in increased “tensions” in the region’s electrical sector, between small centralized networks and growing self-consumption. The challenge is daunting as demand for clean, reliable, and competitive electricity is expected to increase sharply, not least for addressing massive air pollution problems, for example from the transport sector.

As African cities projections will account for the bulk of the population in less than 30 years, energy usages in urban areas will be key for the continent’s sustainable energy access and energy transition.

Columbia Global Centers Nairobi, SIPA Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) and Ifri’s Center for Energy & Climate are pleased to hold this joint webinar with leading experts of the sector on the development of clean electricity systems in sub-Saharan cities.

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Date: 29 April 2021

Organizer: PV magazine

Description: With a required lifespan of at least 20 to 30 years in the field, it is essential to consider performance and durability when designing PV products, like backsheets. While the quality of materials and components has thus far been a particular focus for manufacturers looking to offer premium products that stand the test of time, sustainability is increasingly on the agenda as end-of-life waste mounts, and customer and policy demands change. 

A growing number of manufacturers recognize the benefits of integrating sustainable design and production principles, like lower long-term costs, due to material reuse, for example, without compromising on other aspects. pv magazine Webinar initiative partner DuPont Teijin Films is one such manufacturer. Unlike many of its industry rivals, it produces halogen-free PV backsheets, which contain fewer hazardous chemicals than its fluorinated counterparts. Steven Davies, EMEA market manager, will discuss how sustainable backsheet design and manufacture can still deliver positive operational performance and improve end-of-life processes by recycling materials for reuse in new backsheets.

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Date: 27 April 2021

Organizer: IRENA

Description: IRENA, in partnership with the UNFCCC and UK COP26 Presidency, is hosting a webinar on “COP 26 Climate-Energy Dialogue in the Middle East and North Africa region”, providing a regional forum for the discussion on driving energy transition and building momentum on climate action, in the lead up to COP26, through enhanced energy component of the NDCs, and exploring the key role this plays in MENA countries’ energy transitions and economic recoveries from COVID19.

This virtual event will aim to explore different areas of the NDCs review process, that countries are currently undertaking. The dialogue aims to serve as a platform for exchanging experiences, lessons learnt and best practices in the region as well as understand the linkages between NDCs, long-term strategies and the post-COVID 19 economic recovery plans.

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Date & Time: 20 April 2021 at 1 pm CET

Organizer: Malabo Montpellier Panel

Description: Renewable energy has the potential to transform food systems in Africa and developing Asia, build a more climate-resilient future for smallholder farmers, and drive economic growth. Not just using solar irrigation, which has already seen significant momentum in the past 5 years, but for agro-processing, cold storage and much more. According to the IFC, however, affordability is the main barrier preventing smallholder farmers from adopting these solutions at scale. Numerous other barriers exist. Unlocking the potential requires business models and systems approaches that can take advantage of digitalization, innovative financing and “servitization”, which democratizes access and aggregates demand.

This dialogue will examine the most innovative approaches being implemented today and glean key learnings that can feed into game changing recommendations for the UN Food Systems Summit, COP26 and the High Level Dialogue on Energy.

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Date & Time: 22 April 2021 at 12 pm GMT

Organizer: ESI Africa

Description: Risk mitigation is crucial in the development stage of a solar PV project. These risks influence the ability of a project to obtain financing.

With solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, a major area of risk is the selection of key equipment suppliers, choosing reliable technology, optimising the design to maximise generation, and quantifying accurately the expected energy production of the asset.

UL has developed a strong understanding of the key design considerations and best practices required to increase confidence in solar PV projects to support its clients on risk mitigation, understanding technology trends and challenges on the financing of those.

This webinar demonstrates the benefit of a suitable selection of key technologies and insight into new trends, accurate energy modelling and relevant design considerations for utility-scale PV projects in Africa.

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Date & Time: 20 April 2021

Organizers: SolarPower Europe and GET.invest

Description: In this upcoming Solar Storage in Africa Webinar, SolarPower Europe in collaboration with GET.invest, a European programme supported by the European Union, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Austria, will explore the current state of play of the solar & storage business case in Sub-Saharan Africa, including the competitiveness vis-à-vis conventional energy resources and the related policy framework, and to discuss the barriers that pose a challenge to its deployment.

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Date: 20 April 2021

Organizer: ATI

Description: Join for a virtual workshop, as ATI’s discuss and explore Malawi’s Renewable Energy Sector. ATI’s have a panel of experts lined up to take us through the various case studies in the renewable energy space in Malawi as well as to answer any sector-related questions.

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Date & Time: 15 April 2021 at 12:30 pm GMT

Organizer: ESI Africa

Description: The digitalisation of the energy sector plays an important part in the growth of distributed energy resources (DERs), which is providing much-needed energy access but is also cause for concern around the stability and resilience of the electricity network.

Therefore, following on from a previous webinar highlighting the consequences of increased penetration of renewable generation, part two of this presentation looks deeper into the issues of resolving intermittency of generation and the subsequent impact of reverse current flows.

To resolve the problem of intermittency requires more distributed energy resources, including storage. This then poses the problem of how to facilitate more connections and then to manage the congestion on the network, along with the subsequent voltage increases resulting from reverse power flows.

How this is co-ordinated as well as potential power quality issues will also be discussed with the view of using active network management and adaptive protection techniques.

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Date: 15 April 2021

Organizer: IRENA

Description: To address the challenge of achieving universal access to cooling while avoiding substantial greenhouse gas emissions, we need to identify, implement and upscale low carbon and sustainable technologies. Renewable-based cooling options are among these solutions, but their application and transformational potential remain largely untapped.

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Date: 14 April 2021

Organizer: AFSIA

Description: Solar energy is now the world’s cheapest energy source. This is the result of the perpetual evolution of the solar industry and the relentless efforts of equipment manufacturers to permanently improve their solutions to optimize yield and reduce cost.

The last 24 months have witnessed a tremendous increase of the speed of innovations brought to market as well as drastic price shocks. In this webinar we will discuss the latest updates on some of the most important components of large-scale solar projects in Africa and their impact on the competitiveness of solar in Africa for power generation at utility level.

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