U.S. solar energy firm plans $750 million power grid expansion across four African countries
A US renewable energy company is taking its solar mini-grid model deeper into Africa, targeting four new countries in a major expansion that underscores the growing commercial urgency around the continent’s chronic electricity crisis.
Renewvia Energy Corp., which already operates 24 commercial mini-grids across Kenya and Nigeria, has set its sights on Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Atlanta-based firm estimates the push will require roughly $750 million in investment to deliver approximately 2.1 million electricity connections, according to Renewvia Solar Africa CEO Trey Jarrard.
To support early-stage groundwork, the company has already established local entities in all four target countries. Among the projects on the drawing board is a mini-grid in Baraka, a lakeside DRC town of around 270,000 people situated on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.
The expansion comes as Sub-Saharan Africa remains the world’s sharpest flashpoint for energy poverty. Nearly 600 million people on the continent lack access to electricity — a figure that accounts for more than 80 percent of the global unelectrified population. That grim reality has helped catalyse Mission 300, a joint initiative backed by the World Bank and the African Development Bank that aims to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.
Renewvia’s existing operations span mini-grids ranging from 100 kilowatts to 2.5 megawatts, supplying rural communities and commercial clients that include Shell, UBA Bank, and the UNHCR.
Beyond its four-country push, the company is separately seeking $45 million in concessional financing to expand a metro-grid in Kakuma and build a renewable energy plant in Dadaab — two of the world’s largest refugee settlements. Jarrard said longer-term, lower-interest loans from such financing would help the firm hold electricity tariffs at affordable levels. If secured, the funding could increase electricity access in both settlements fivefold, potentially reaching more than 550,000 people.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah