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Abagold is developing a battery energy storage system alongside a solar PV plant installed in 2022 at its aquaculture farms in Western Cape. The abalone producer also hopes to revive a plan for a wave energy project shelved in 2020.

Paris-headquartered independent power producer (IPP) Albioma has completed the conversion of its Bois Rouge plant to run solely on biomass.

South Africa's state utility Eskom has provided an update on the expected restart date of the Koeberg nuclear power station's unit 1. Its return to service is an integral part of Eskom’s operational recovery plan, which seeks to improve generation performance by raising the energy availability factor to an average of 65% by next March. In another key development that should soon boost power supply, Eskom has launched the Cross Border Standard Offer Programme (CBSOP).

Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) has requested expressions of interest (EoI) for a project supervising engineer consultancy for the Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea Rural Electrification Project (CLSG-RE).

The United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has signed a grant agreement with Washington, DC-headquartered Ecostar Energy’s Ivorian subsidiary to provide technical assistance for its biomass plant in the northern Boundiali department.

US-based developer Husk Power Systems has secured funds from investors, which it will use to scale up its solar mini-grid developments in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Husk – which was established in 2008 – claimed its new Series D funding was “the largest-ever equity raise in the mini-grid industry”.

Production is set to increase in Africa’s two main uranium producers, Niger and Namibia, as market prices surge after a decade in the doldrums. The extra output comes largely from recommissioned mines, with the greenfield Dasa project facing delays following Niger’s coup.

Amid fresh speculation that it is eyeing up an entry into Mozambique’s Rovuma LNG project, Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation (Adnoc) looks set to become a more active participant in upstream projects in Africa, so long as natural gas is on the agenda.

The idea that electricity generated by wind and solar plants in Egypt could eventually be transported across the European continent to supply the UK’s national grid is far-fetched, but on the agenda.

Even before the new Middle East war shattered comfortable assumptions about regional security, the global economic climate remained hostile to many heavily-indebted and financially stressed governments, and to populations who have struggled to live with fallout from the pandemic and Ukraine war, which has included painful levels of inflation and costly currency volatility. African Energy offers a few pointers towards another difficult year ahead, as the IMF issues its annual appraisals of the global outlook and regional economic performance, and the Israel-Palestine conflict returns to centre stage in an increasingly polarised world.

Insurers focusing on energy sectors appear cautiously optimistic, despite many parts of Africa experiencing economic, political or security volatility. Some insurers are expanding into new sectors, such as transmission and C&I power plants, buoyed by high demand for what is often an unsung, but important element in project and financial structures, writes Marc Howard.

Few countries generate such strong opinions, for and against, as Rwanda, which is ruled with an iron fist by an apparently ageless President Paul Kagame. All but set for re-election again in August 2024, Kagame continues to make himself very useful to allies, acting as a regional policeman while also a player in his neighbours’ conflicts, while drawing in finance despite criticism of governance abuses, write Tonderayi Mukeredzi and African Energy staff .

Guinea’s military government has received a significant fillip as mining giant Rio Tinto and Chinese steelmaker Baowu made further commitments to the Simandou megaproject – in the process offering hope to Interim President Mamady Doumbouya that exports could eventually start from the long-stalled scheme, as his regime moves slowly on the promised transition back to democracy, write Marc Howard and Our Conakry Correspondent.

For Interim President Mamady Doumbouya, progress on the Simandou iron ore megaproject may show his transitional regime is capable of effective governance in Guinea, as he courts a range of international leaders –  as the colonel underlined by his attendance in New York at the late September United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) – and tries to control the calendar for political transition.

With an official access rate of around 70% in 2023, of which some 20% comes from off-grid solutions such as solar home system and mini-grids, Rwanda has made major strides towards electrification. African Energy takes a closer look at the country's energy mix and pipeline of power generation projects.