AfLP Officially Launches Livestock Community of Practicehttps://africanclimateactionpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/LIVESTOCK-COMMUNITY-OF-PRACTICE.png1500500aflpaflphttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/464c5d1932d38a8c7908028ed233271b?s=96&d=mm&r=g
In March 2022, The Africa LEDS Partnership (AfLP) officially launched a new Community of Practice on Livestock (Livestock CoP). The event was attended by a range of stakeholders across the African continent. During the event the AfLP, and the Livestock CoP core group members provided an overview of the Livestock CoP’s goals. The event was also an opportunity for participants to express their needs and desires and identify opportunities to work with the CoP.
During the event, AfLP Co-chair, Dr George Wamukoya (African Group of Negiotators Experts Support/AGNES) encouraged participants to participate actively and key areas that Africa should focus on. Wamukoya expressed his desire to see the Livestock building African expertise and delivering region-specific interventions to support the livestock sectors of countries across the continent.
A key issue raised during the event was the need for Africa’s response to climate change to be informed by the continent’s context. A key element which is particularly important for policy development within the livestock sector is the consideration for mitigation and adaptation co-benefits. This is important to reduce the climate vulnerability while ensuring the sector can improve food production to meet growing demands. However, it was also noted that there is a need for on-the-ground intervention to support paradigm shifts in the livestock sector in support of more sustainable livestock practices.
Going forward, it was suggested that the Livestock CoP focus on key priority areas to deliver real impact. Having strong links to the ground (through support of local NGOs and the private sector) and strong links to the policy level (through government entities) were seen as important to ensuring this happens. Stakeholders also suggested forming sub-regional CoPs which feed into a broader continent-wide CoP. This will help ensure the activities speak to regional needs while feeding into the broader goals of the CoP.
Next Steps for Livestock CoP:
Following the launch event, the secretariat and core group are in the process of developing a long-term workplan for the CoP. The core group will be meeting in July to workshop key activities and co-develop a proposal for funding support from key partners, New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC).
A key priority for the Livestock CoP in the coming months will be setting up regional forums, aimed to bring together stakeholders on the regional level to identify priorities and opportunities for implementation.
If you would like to join the AfLP Livestock CoP you can do so by completing the form below.
Opportunities Abound for the Government of Malawi to Attract Investment in RE+Storage Projectshttps://africanclimateactionpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/image-1024x512-1.png1024512KMKMhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/9ab479da6ffcefccdbafa8f9dc6d061b?s=96&d=mm&r=g
This blog post was written by Dr David Jacobs and Toby Couture, who supported the LEDS GP with this technical assistance.
The market for grid-scale battery storage technologies is booming worldwide with the growing awareness of the many benefits and services that batteries can provide.
Many government and utility officials around the world continue to think of battery storage simply as a form of storage that can be “filled up” and “drawn down” as needed in order to adjust to changing patterns of power demand. However, as experience with battery storage systems grows in markets ranging from California and South Australia to India and China, a more multi-faceted view of the role of grid-scale battery storage is emerging.
Battery storage systems can help make the outputs of solar and wind powerplants more predictable and reliable, whilst also providing a wide range of services to the grid, including frequency response, voltage control, and primary and secondary reserve (see figure below).
Moreover, battery storage can help reduce curtailment, providing benefits both to renewable energy (RE) producers, as well as to utilities (IRENA, 2019).
A flurry of recent auction results of solar+storage systems shows that the economics of combining renewable energy projects with storage (RE+storage) are now attractive in a growing number of countries around the world.
Recent auction results for RE+storage projects show unsubsidized prices for solar+storage in particular betweenUSD 4-8 cents/kWh, as seen in India’s recent auction for “round the clock” power supply (see Table below) (Gupta, 2021).
Jurisdiction (Year of entry-into-service)
Project Details
Price ($/kWh)
Contract length
India “Round-the-clock” auction(2021-22)
400MW firm capacity, including solar, wind, and storage
USD $0.04/kWh
25 years
Australia(2017; expanded in 2020)
Hornsdale Power Reserve: 315MW of wind power with 130MW/129MWh of battery storage
USD $0.055 – 0.066/kWh
10 years
Florida(late 2021)
Manatee Energy Storage Center: 409MW of solar PV + 900MWh of battery storage
N/A (utility-owned)
N/A (utility-owned)
Chile(2021 – 2023)
Engie Chile:1500MW of renewables with storage in time-differentiated blocks with solar+storage:
USD $0.024/kWh
40-year concession agreement
Portugal(2021-2022)
483MW of solar PV + storage
USD $0.04/kWh
15 years
Israel (2022)
168MW of solar PV + storage
USD $0.058/kWh
23 years
As the economics continue to improve, some jurisdictions with high and growing shares of variable RE, such as Hawaii, have even announced that all future procurements of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy will be combined with storage (Colthorpe, 2021). While this may not be feasible or necessary for jurisdictions like Malawi, it underscores the scale of the transformation that has taken place in the costs of RE+storage in recent years.
A recent analysis, prepared for the Government of Malawi as part of the support provided by the LEDS GP, provides an overview of the main uses for which the Government of Malawi can procure battery storage systems. The analysis focuses on five main functions, or use cases:
Reducing the curtailment of variable renewable energy (VRE) resources
Providing ancillary services
Deferring transmission and/or distribution grid investments
This analysis also highlights some of the key lessons in auction design from which countries like Malawi can draw in order to design and implement their own RE+storage auctions.
While auctions designed for battery storage share several features with regular RE auctions, there are certain aspects that need to be taken into consideration, including establishing clarity over what exactly is being auctioned, what level of availability the RE+storage installations need to provide, and whether any locational or other restrictions apply.
This brief report is intended to help governments like Malawi procure RE+storage projects in the coming years to help meet their overall energy access and climate-related objectives. This way, even relatively small countries with limited grid interconnections with their neighbouring countries can move towards high shares of renewables, thus paving the way for faster and more secure decarbonization of the electricity system in the coming decades.
Upcoming Webinar: Voluntary Carbon Markets Global Dialogue | Global Webinarhttps://africanclimateactionpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-2021-09-22-at-10.32.41.png600377KMKMhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/9ab479da6ffcefccdbafa8f9dc6d061b?s=96&d=mm&r=g
The Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCM) Global Dialogue is hosting two webinar sessions where they will present the findings on how to shape the voluntary carbon market from the perspective of the Global South. The findings have emerged from in-depth consultations with VCM stakeholders in Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and will now be presented to a global audience. The webinars aim to enrich the findings of the VCM Global Dialogue regional consultations.
During the webinar, the presentation of the findings will be followed by a panel discussion with stakeholders from the supply side. Webinar participants are invited to ask questions and provide comments during the session, and provide written feedback on the findings after the meeting.
To confirm your participation, please register for one or both sessions via the links below:
VCM Global Dialogue Global Webinar session 1 | Tuesday 28 September 2021 | 8:00 AM UTC | Register here VCM Global Dialogue Global Webinar session 2 | Tuesday 28 September 2021 | 2:00 PM UTC | Register here
Workshop Series: Strengthening the case for Mini-grids in Africahttps://africanclimateactionpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Solar-panel-.jpg1024576aflpaflphttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/464c5d1932d38a8c7908028ed233271b?s=96&d=mm&r=g
The LEDS GP is pleased to invite you to join the Africa LEDS Partnership virtual Workshop Series on “Strengthening the case for Mini-grids in Africa: Connecting the dots across rural electrification, climate resilience and sustainable development”.
This is part of a four session virtual workshop series to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing on African mini-grids.
16 April | 15:30 – 16:30 SAST/ 16:30 – 17:30 EAST Session 1: Introduction to the workshop and 2020 work programme (60 mins).
A private session for AMG-CoP members to catch up, introduce our general work programme (WP) for the year, discuss the current situation, our concept for the workshop, its shift to the virtual space and the planned programme. The AfLP used this opportunity to discuss and consult with members on the current Covid-19 pandemic, its impact on the AfLP work programme for 2020, as well as the emerging regional and country needs.
16 April | 16:40 – 17:30 SAST/ 17:40 – 18:30 EAST Session 2: Making energy access through mini-grids affordable: The role of governments and international climate finance (60 mins).
This session explored the current mini-grid climate finance landscape in Africa and how tapping into available climate finance can strengthen both rural electrification and climate action. We looked at the financing landscape assessment that has been developed by the Finance Working Group, and heard from selected AMG-CoP members, as well as a Climate Fund representative.
Facilitator Josh Ogada (SouthSouthNorth )
Speakers Alexia Kelly (Electric Capital) Alexander Obiechina (ACOB Lighting) Geoff Sinclair (CAMCO Clean Energy) Alexander Ochs (SD Strategies)
30 April | 15:30 – 17:00 SAST/ 16:30 – 18:00 EAST Session 3: Exploring the rural electrification – climate resilience – sustainable development nexus (90 mins).
This session assessed the role of mini-grids in the current NDCs of Sub-Saharan African governments and discussed how a stronger focus on mini-grid-based rural electrification can increase climate ambition while delivering multiple sustainable development co-benefits. The session also delved into the co-benefits of mini-grid-based rural electrification, we heard from NREL about the landscape assessment of mini-grids in NDCs, in addition to perspectives from the ground on the integration of electrification, sustainable development and climate action at project level.
Host Josh Ogada (SouthSouthNorth )
Speakers Alexander Ochs (SD Strategies) Franz Kottulinsky (Rift Valley) Ieva Indriunaite (SD Strategies) Dr Victor Osu (Rural Electrification Agency Nigeria)
7 May | 15:30 – 17:00 SAST/ 16:30 – 18:00 EAST Session 4: Exploring the rural electrification – climate resilience – sustainable development nexus (90 mins).
A private session for the AMG-CoP members to discuss their key take-aways from the virtual workshop and share experiences from their countries on how integrated rural electrification-climate-sustainable development planning can be put into practice. The session will conclude with a joint discussion on the next milestones for the CoP and a member survey of key topics of interest for their respective countries and regions.
This is a private session for AMG-CoP members only
Facilitator Josh Ogada (SouthSouthNorth )
Speakers Ieva Indriunaite (SD Strategies) Alexia Kelly (Electric Capital) Alexander Ochs (SD Strategies) Tim Reber (NREL) Additional Speakers and contributors TBC
AMG-CoP members: You will receive a separate invite for the closed Sessions. However please do register for the open sessions using the links provided above
About: The African Mini-Grid Community of Practice (AMG-CoP) – a collaborative network of 16 African country governments – has identified mini-grids as a central element of developing a decarbonised, climate-resilient energy services sector for the nearly 600 million people across Africa who lack access to affordable, safe and clean energy. Mini-grids answer the call for solutions that deliver climate change mitigation and resilience, while also advancing economic and social development benefits. In 2020, governments around the world are required to submit their revised Nationally Determined Contribution strategies for reducing global carbon emissions. This creates a unique opportunity to strengthen the rural electrification – climate resilience – sustainable development nexus.
Starting 16 April 2020, the AMG-CoP will convene a virtual 4-session workshop for its members and the broader community of energy access practitioners. This unique event will bring together (in the virtual space) African government leaders, climate finance experts, financial institutions and investors, as well as mini-grid developers and operators. The virtual workshop will assess the role of mini-grids in the current NDCs of Sub-Saharan African governments, discuss how a stronger focus on mini-grid-based rural electrification can increase climate ambition while delivering multiple sustainable development co-benefits, and identify the role of governments and international climate finance in this regard.
This workshop will explore questions such as: • How can the sustainable development objectives of electrification, economic development and climate change mitigation and resilience be more effectively integrated? • How can energy access in Africa be advanced through climate finance? • How can public-private partnerships deliver enhanced electrification and other key community benefits, while also contributing to a stronger bottom line (economic performance) and more attractive investment environment for the private sector?
The workshop will be co-convened by the Africa LEDS Partnership (AfLP) as well as the Finance Working Group and the Energy Working Group of the Low Emissions Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
