Search results

Veolia’s management contract with Electricité de Guinée (EdG) revives hopes for an end to the power supply problems that have dogged Guinea for decades. But in the process, the French company will have to tackle one of the country’s biggest systems of fraud and embezzlement.President Alpha Condé, who makes no secret of his lack of confidence in Guineans’ ability to manage strategic sectors, was closely involved in negotiation of the contract, whose success is important both for energy-starved Guineans and for his chances of re-election in October

Eni has started production from the East Hub development project in Block 15/06. Oil from nine wells on the Cabaça South East field is being produced to the Armada Olombendo floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, with capacity of 80,000 b/d of oil and 3.4mcf/d of gas.East Hub will add to production from the existing West Hub Project in the Sangos, Cinguvu and Mpungi fields, where another vessel, the FPSO N’Goma, is operating (AE 291/15). In total, Block 15/06 will reach peak output of 150,000 b/d of oil this year.

Deep-water drilling contractor Seadrill Partners said on 3 October it plans to contest a force majeure notice received from Tullow Ghana for a drilling contract for the West Leo rig. The ultra-deep-water semisubmersible has most recently been in use on the TEN development project, which started up in August 2016. Further drilling on TEN has been suspended until the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea rules in a dispute over the maritime border, expected late next year and Tullow and partners have not yet received approval for the Greater Jubilee full field development plan, so further drilling is not currently possible.

Following an agreement with Brazil’s Vale and controversial Israeli investor Beny Steinmetz’s BSG Resources to settle a long-running dispute over the Simandou iron ore resource, President Alpha Condé’s government believes it can launch iron ore exports and persuade a major investor to build the long-mooted Trans-Guinean Railway (TGR). Development of this ‘Southern Corridor’ for economic development and exports from Haute Guinée would provide a major boost in the lead-up to the 2020 elections, in which Condé is widely expected to seek a third term.

Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) has invited expressions of interest for a developer or developer consortium to carry out studies, design, build, operate and own a solar project to sell electricity to EEP under a long-term power purchase agreement. The project is located at Metehara, 130km east of Addis Ababa, at an altitude of 910-920 metres, near the main local highway and with “good proximity” to the transmission grid. Prequalification criteria include having worked on at least two minimum 20MW solar IPPs, with at least one in commercial operation. Bidders must show they have strong credit backing, and can directly or indirectly arrange financing and security.

Power developers in Kenya have faced a difficult few years with policy in flux and challenging politics. But a spate of announcements on solar projects and the controversial 1,050MW Lamu coal plant suggests the sector is starting to move again, writes Dan Marks

Efforts to establish a national unity government, agreed in principle by negotiators on 17 December, are foundering. United Nations Security Council resolution 2259, which endorsed the political agreement brokered by UN Support Mission in Libya chief Martin Kobler, gave a nine-member Presidency Council (currently based in Tunis) 30 days to form an administration and gain the ratification of the rival House of Representatives (HoR) and General National Congress. These two bodies will eventually become the parliament and State Council.

Tullow Oil has exercised its pre-emption right over Heritage Oil’s stakes in blocks 1 and 3A in Lake Albert, blocking their sale to Eni, which announced an agreement with Heritage last year.

Further details of a project to introduce batteries to the grid, which earlier this year replaced a previous donor-funded project to build the 100MW Kiwano concentrated solar power scheme, have been released with publication of the environmental and social management framework. The project will be implemented in two phases, with 800MWh of distributed battery storage to be installed at various sites in four provinces by December 2019 in the first phase.

Ophir Energy has formed another strategic alliance in the run-up to its planned share flotation by securing a farm-in from Petrobras to the offshore Mbeli and Ntsina blocks

A consortium of EDF Renewables, Masdar and Morocco’s Green of Africa has been awarded a contract for the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the Noor Midelt I project. Noor Midelt I will combine concentrated solar power and photovoltaic technologies, with an installed capacity of 800MW and a storage capacity of five hours.

With the Zambian electricity supply industry in a state of flux, Lusaka Stock Exchange-listed Copperbelt Energy Corporation plc (CEC) is planning another growth spurt, building new generating capacity with the estimated $100m Kabompo Gorge hydroelectric power (HEP) project in North-Western Province.

Eni has become the latest major European oil company to express support for the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) project to bring gas across the Sahara from Nigeria to markets in Europe.

Acutely aware that it needs to show that a majority of Ghanaians will enjoy long-term benefits from oil, the government is looking to stipulate local content provisions in its new industry.

The Temane Regional Electricity Project (TREP) has secured $543m of funding for the transmission line and related substations element, including a $300m grant from the World Bank, a $24m grant from the Norwegian Trust Fund, $33m from the African Development Bank, a $99.7m lease and loan through the Islamic Development Bank, and $36m from the OPEC Fund for International Development, partner Globeleq announced on 28 August.