The changing economics of clean power
Falling equipment costs are changing which projects get built and who builds them. The harder question is who pays for the grid that connects them.
By Daniel Otieno. 12 Oct 2026, 05:30 EAT
A decade ago, the case for large solar projects in the region rested heavily on concessional finance. Today developers say many projects can be justified on cost alone. That shift is real, but it hides a less comfortable question about transmission.
Cheaper panels, expensive wires
Equipment is only part of the bill. Connecting new generation to where people live and work requires transmission lines, substations and storage, and those costs have not fallen in the same way.
Utilities that already carry debt are cautious about adding more. Developers, meanwhile, are increasingly looking at selling power directly to large commercial users.
“The panel is the cheap part now. The difficult part is everything that happens after the electricity leaves the site.”
A project developer interviewed for this article