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Prospects for the regional electricity supply industry and West African power trading took a huge leap forward when two major networks interconnected at Linsan in Guinea. Much work remains to be done after the 2 April link-up, but the OMVG-CLSG interconnection points to a more positive direction of travel for a West African Power Pool that is starting to excite market interest.

Some headline elements of the now ruling Parti Africain du Sénégal, pour l’Ethique et la Fraternité (Pastef les Patriotes)’s policy were presented during the election campaign, which included the following commitments:

Making the most of hydrocarbon resources and tackling perceived governance abuses are among the hot dossiers at the top of incoming President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko’s agenda. Policy-makers and investors need to be acutely aware that Senegal is waiting on radical change from its new Pastef government, write Waly Dione Faye and Jon Marks.

Slow progress at some of sub-Saharan Africa’s most high-profile LNG developments come as exporters from other parts of the world race to sign new long-term deals with buyers from Asia and Europe. The risk for African producers is that they could miss out on lucrative opportunities, costing governments large amounts in lost foreign earnings, writes Marc Howard*.

The 2.4m t/yr first phase of the cross-border Mauritania/Senegal Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) gas development has once again been delayed. Kosmos chief executive Andrew Inglis said the latest setback stemmed from GTA’s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel requiring further repairs in Tenerife, following damage incurred during its journey from Qidong, China.

President Macky Sall’s decision to postpone the 25 February presidential election until 15 December exacerbated an already poisonous atmosphere in Senegal. His 19 February decision to reverse that decision should lead to an election being held very soon, but political tensions will persist. African Energy’s Risk Management Report focuses on political risk indicators in a country that has long been favoured by donors and investors, and whose natural resources industries are booming as offshore oil and natural gas exports beckon. With attention firmly directed towards gas-to-power development, most other aspects of electricity industry reform, such as the unbundling of utility Senelec and introduction of wheeling have been left on hold – and further delays are likely.

The arrival of floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel the Léopold Sédar Senghor to the Sangomar site brings Senegal a significant step closer to realising its first offshore oil project.

Turkey’s Aksa Energy has started installation work at the 255MW Saint Louis combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant, in the coastal city of Saint Louis, 320km north of Dakar. African Energy spoke to Aksa to get the details of the project, which was awarded directly to local developer Ndar Energies in February 2023.

With momentum building for the delayed Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG project to start exports in mid-2024, supermajor BP has extended its relationship with services provider Petrofac.

The COP28 climate talks in Dubai ended on a more positive note than many had thought possible, but for all the talk of eventually phasing out fossil fuels, multi-billions of dollars-worth of climate finance and operationalising the long-awaited Loss and Damage Fund, the crowds who descended on Dubai left with much to do and huge financial shortfalls to make up.

UAE-based players have used COP28 to commit – and recommit – to projects that could supply over 12GW of renewables capacity across Africa. Emiratis argue this displays a willingness to push projects forward and shoulder risk, while others have failed to deliver – and if critics complain they are also prominent in the oil lobby, Abu Dhabi can counter that the UAE has assumed a leading role in enabling Africa’s energy transition.

Major Mauritania-Senegal Basin plays GTA and Sangomar are now advancing after ship-related issues delayed both projects for around a year. However, despite optimism for West African LNG developments, much-anticipated results from Shell’s wildcat well in Mauritania’s Block C10 have disappointed.

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.

The utilities of the four-nation Organisation for the Development of the Gambia River (L’Organisation pour la mise en Valeur du Fleuve Gambie, OMVG) have signed a transmission service agreement for the 1,677km ‘Loop’ high-voltage power transmission line. The $685m development comprises 4,000 pylons and 15 substations and interconnects the grids of Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal. As its name suggests, the 225kV, double-circuit line forms a circular network spanning the four countries.

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.