Africa’s solar manufacturing dream is far from reality

March 26, 2025

LPV Technologies, a local solar energy company, has started manufacturing solar panels, making it the third such company in Nigeria. It has an annual production capacity of 100 MW, bringing Nigeria's current total capacity to 200 MW. The government also has a 1,200 MW solar module assembly plant in the pipeline.

  • Solar panel manufacturing isn't new to Africa. Egypt, South Africa, and Ghana have been producing solar panels, but currently only meet a small portion of the overall demand.

  • Nigeria presents a unique case for localising manufacturing. They have a large population without access to electricity, which presents a big domestic market. This is an advantage for manufacturing plants to achieve economies of scale. But can they compete with Chinese giants on prices?

  • Our take: It will cost Africa more in the short term to set up their manufacturing than to import… Read more (2 min)

Tunisia has approved four utility-scale solar projects for construction, totalling 500 MW. The plants are expected to be operational by 2027 and will generate 1,100 GWh of annual power, equivalent to 5% of national electricity production. It is expected to save the country $125 million yearly in gas imports.

  • The solar projects were awarded for $0.032/kWh, which is 1.6 times cheaper than what Algeria charges for gas. However, it is 1.7 times higher than in South Africa and 2.4 times higher than prices outside Africa.

  • Tunisia relies heavily on natural gas, which powers over 90% of its electricity generation, much of it imported from Algeria. Only 7% of its power is from renewable energy sources, but it aims to generate 35% of its electricity from renewables by 2030.

  • Our take: Tunisia’s solar push is a smart play for energy independence, but hitting 35% renewables needs speed and scale… Read more (2 min)

Twelve African countries have set ambitious targets for near-universal electrification by 2030, according to the Renewables Rising policy tracker. Renewable energy is at the heart of these policies. Battery storage and grid infrastructure policies are missing, yet they are strong partners that must be developed in tandem.

  • The World Bank and AfDB are providing financing to these twelve countries to accelerate their electrification goals through Mission 300, a project targeting to connect 300 million Africans to power by 2030. As part of the funding requirements, the selected countries are obligated to refine their policy frameworks.

  • Alongside the Mission 300 countries, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa made policy changes. Both Rwanda and Kenya have set targets for universal electricity access by 2030.

  • Our take: African governments should focus not only on power generation policies but also on transmission and energy storage… Read more (2 min)

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Eskom staff visit the Hex Battery Energy Storage in the Western Cape, South Africa

Events

🗓️ Learn about Growatt’s latest Hybrid SPE Series (Mar 26)

🗓️ Register for the Mitigating risks to PV installations posed by extreme weather webinar (Apr 2)

🗓️ Attend Kenya’s Clean Energy Conference 2025 (Jul 31)

Jobs

💰 Manage Kengen’s commercial services (Kenya)

👷🏽 Lead renewable energy projects for Atlas Renewable Energy (Morocco)

🛠️ Join Energicity as a VP of Project Delivery (Liberia)

Various 

💵 Ghana announces renewable energy investment plan

🔋 Hisense and CNBM partner to deliver smart energy solutions in South Africa

🥇 Participate in the Young Innovators Award in Kenya

Seen on LinkedIn 

James Drummond, Chief Operating Officer at the PSC Group, says, “Grid modernisation is taking three to seven times longer than the installation of renewable projects. ”

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