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Ghana’s independent power producers (IPPs) are moving closer to a deal with the government over its arrears, as a wider – and long-awaited – multilateral debt restructuring package led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) slowly comes to fruition.

Construction work has began on the Pomona waste-to-energy project, with a ground-breaking event attended by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The project was approved by cabinet in February 2022, but construction has been delayed by the city council’s failure to raise the required funds and complaints from the public.

 Sources say five more turbines are expected to come online at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the coming months, adding a huge amount of capacity to the grid, even as questions remain over the megaproject’s economic impact and whether the infrastructure exists to increase exports. Meanwhile, Ethiopia faces the prospect of renewed conflict as tensions ratchet up with neighbouring Eritrea, writes Our Ethiopia Correspondent.

Infinity Power has signed a 20-year capacity charge agreement (CCA) with utility Société Nationale d’Electricité du Sénégal (Senelec) for the Taïba N’Diaye battery plant. The storage system will operate in tandem with Infinity’s nearby Taïba N’Diaye wind plant, which was commissioned in February 2020. According to African Energy Live Data, Taïba will be the largest on-grid battery energy storage system in West Africa by some distance.

African Energy Live Data started consistently monitoring power project pipelines across the continent eight years ago. An analysis of the figures for South Africa shows a tragic lost opportunity in the shape of many gigawatts of potential renewable generation capacity with no foreseeable chance of being connected to the grid.

A group of multinational investors led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have provided finance for the development of the 35MW Kinguélé Aval hydroelectric power plant in Gabon’s Estuaire region.

State utility Société Nationale de l’Electricité et du Gaz’s Sonelgaz-Energies Renouvelables (S-EnR) has announced the winning bids for its 2GW solar photovoltaic project. Once delivered, the project would quadruple S-EnR’s installed solar capacity. Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune has told Sonelgaz to install 15GW of renewable energy by 2030, of which the 2GW tender is the first phase.

Kosmos Energy has taken an operated stake in the 25tcf offshore Yakaar-Teranga gas field, following BP’s exit, and says it intends to export up to 3m t/yr of LNG. Longstanding plans to supply local offtakers through a new pipeline are also set to continue. Meanwhile the cross-border Senegal-Mauritania LNG development continues, but progress could be held up as the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) project’s FPSO awaits repairs off Durban, writes Marc Howard.

The future of electric power generation in South Africa is no longer in the hands of state-owned utility Eskom. Although it controls more than 80% of installed capacity, including 45GW of coal-fired generation, changes in the electricity supply industry are now being driven by the installation of many gigawatts-worth of captive solar photovoltaic (PV) generation, following the removal of licence restrictions.

Privately-owned indie Perenco has long been a significant upstream player in west and central Africa and it is now extending its position with new discoveries and plans to increase production in Chad, Republic of Congo and elsewhere, as its general manager Benoît de la Fouchardiere tells African Energy.

African Energy examines the events surrounding the recent talks in late October between President General Abdel-Fattah Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Lieutenant General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (often known as Hemedti).

The issue leads with a special report on South Africa. In a major investigation, African Energy’s editorial and data teams have probed unanswered questions about South Africa’s energy transition, which is being shaped by large corporations and their need for reliable, low-carbon power. The results show a booming private sector electricity market that is also unpredictable and freighted with risk for all participants.   Our usual power coverage leads with Ethiopia, where tensions are ratcheting up with neighbouring Eritrea. Sources say five more turbines are expected to come online at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the coming months, even as questions remain over the megaproject’s economic impact and whether the infrastructure exists to increase exports. African Energy re-examines the prospects for the Kudu gas field, which could provide substantial gas-to-power capacity for Namibia’s domestic market and for export to South Africa. Officials say it will proceed independently of recent massive Orange Basin discoveries further south, but industry observers are sceptical of the electricity export plans, citing the lack of power transmission infrastructure. Oil and gas coverage also includes an interview with Perenco general manager Benoît de la Fouchardiere focused on the privately-owned indie's regional ambitions. African Energy reports on big claims about investment flows at the AfDB-backed Africa Investment Forum 2023 Market Days event in Morocco. The African Energy View focuses on Algeria, where President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has dismissed PM Aymen Benabderrahmane and all eight vice presidents at Sonatrach, having already removed the national oil company’s chief Toufik Hakkar. The clear-out confirmed rumours circulating in Algiers for weeks that suggested Tebboune is seeking to inject more dynamism into government and place key allies in prominent posts ahead of elections next year when he expects to stand again.

Aymen Benabderrahmane has been replaced as prime minister by President Abdelmajid Tebboune’s chief of staff (since March) Nadir Larbaoui.

The latest financial results issued by South Africa’s state-owned utility Eskom show the dire situation of the country’s electricity supply industry (ESI) is not improving.

State-owned Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) is seeking a consultant to conduct a feasibility study on a proposed 40MW floating solar PV plant on the Kamburu hydroelectric power (HEP) plant reservoir.