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Circle Oil has expanded its acreage in Tunisia, raising its stake in the offshore Mahdia licence and farming into the Beni Khaled permit. Circle has agreed to acquire a 30% stake in Mahdia for $3m, increasing its holding to 100%. Broker Investec said the acquisition underlined Circle’s confidence in the El Medouini prospect, where a well is planned for H1 2014.

Russia’s Nordgold Group has signed an engineering, procurement and construction agreement with China’s Sumec Group Corporation to design and construct a 33MW HFO power plant at its Lefa gold mine. The new power plant, which will replace an existing facility, will reduce fuel consumption for electricity production by 15% and engine oil consumption by 30%, resulting in a 17,000 t/yr reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, Nordgold announced on 20 April.

The government has announced funding from the African Development Fund and Japanese Agency for International Co-operation (Jica) to finance its electricity transmission and distribution grid; Andritz on 19 March announced that its Andritz Hydro unit had received an estimated E45m ($59m) order to rebuild and rehabilitate two more 178MW units at the Inga II hydropower plant; Companies have until 30 April to bid for a number of lots of African Development Bank (AfDB)-funded equipment; Companies have until 23 April to prequalify for an African Development Fund grant-financed rural electrification project; The US Trade and Development Agency has awarded a $666,619 grant to Société Nationale des Transports et de la Logistique for a feasibility study on a 1.5MW solar PV rooftop pilot project in Mohammedia; There have been reports from Zimbabwe that Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) in mid-March halted exports to troubled state utility Zesa Holdings; Agence Sénégalaise de l’Electrification Rurale (ASER) is looking to draw up a shortlist of six consultants to oversee the conception and implementation of a project to offer the Louga-Kébémer-Linguère region as a concession

Nasdaq-listed SunPower Corporation, two-thirds owned by France’s Total, has announced plans to own and operate a solar panel manufacturing facility in Cape Town, capable of producing 160MW worth of panels each year. The plant is a big show of confidence for the sector, and is expected to create 150 local jobs. It will produce the company’s E20/440 solar panels, as well as housing its engineering, procurement and construction and operations and management offices. SunPower is a preferred bidder for three power projects; work on the 22MW Herbert and 11MW Greefspan power plants was completed in H1 2014

US company GE is to supply 38 1.6MW turbines to the Kinangop wind farm, being developed by Aeolus Kenya and constructed by Iberdrola Engineering. GE will also provide operations and maintenance for the wind farm through a full-service agreement with Kinangop Wind Park Limited for ten years. The agreement will help the Kinangop wind farm achieve high wind turbine operating performance and life with predictive condition monitoring services, unplanned maintenance coverage and other services. GE will train local technicians and provide technical advisory support for connecting the wind farm to the grid.

A second, bigger power barge has arrived in Tema port, ready to start supplying the grid. Karpowership Ghana Company Limited said the arrival of the 470MW Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan follows its 2015 power purchase agreement with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). Karpowership is expected to provide a total of 450MW to the grid for ten years.

The Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy has announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Gunvor Group, Nigeria’s Taleveras Group and South Africa’s Strategic Fuel Fund to expand its plans for a crude oil and petroleum products storage tank farm on Bioko Island. In an expansion of the previous project plan, the terminal will incorporate a significant amount of crude oil storage space, as well as storage for petroleum products. The MoU establishes the terms of co-operation between the ministry and the three companies.

Australia’s Woodside Energy has continued its advance in Africa with the signing of a reconnaissance licence for the Rabat Ultra-Deep Offshore area. The 36,737km2 block, in water depths of 1,700 to 4,400 metres, lies just west of Chariot Oil and Gas’ Rabat Deep Offshore licence, where Woodside agreed to take a 25% interest in July. The work commitment under the 12-month reconnaissance licence includes a 2D seismic survey. Woodside made a rapid series of African acquisitions around a decade ago before pulling back in 2007 following disappointing results in Kenya, Libya and Mauritania. This year, the company has returned to the region, with acquisitions in Tanzania, Gabon and Cameroon, as well as Morocco.

Fuel marketer and distributor Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL) has signed a co-operation agreement with the Ghana Navy for the use of berthing facilities at Sekondi naval base for its bunkering operations

A grand jury has indicted Sable Mining chief executive Andrew Groves and seven other people following a damning report from Global Witness outlining the business model followed by Groves and his business partner, former England cricketer Phil Edmonds.President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ordered an inquiry in May into Sable’s unsuccessful attempt to acquire an iron ore concession in northern Liberia after the report accused the company of bribing public officials.

Operator Genel Energy is to plug and abandon the SM-1 well on the Sidi Moussa permit. Genel said on 13 November the well had been drilled to 2,825 metres sub-sea and encountered oil in fractured and brecciated cavernous Upper Jurassic carbonates. In the course of well control operations, 26 degree API oil was produced to surface, but the company said a testing programme over the same interval had failed to produce oil at sustainable rates “potentially as a consequence of the reservoir damage suffered during drilling and well control operations”.

Tullow Oil has announced that the Zaedyus-2 appraisal well on the Guyane Maritime licence offshore French Guiana did not encounter commercial hydrocarbons.

Australia’s Woodside Energy has agreed to farm in to Chariot Oil & Gas’ Rabat Deep Offshore Block, taking 25%. Chariot will remain as operator with 50%, while the state Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines has a 25% carried interest. Woodside will pay the cost of a 1,700km2 3D seismic survey acquired by Chariot in April and other back costs on the block, and finance planned sonar and seabed coring.

Australia’s African Energy Resources has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Zesco to supply 300MW of baseload electrical power from its Sese Coal & Power Project into the national grid in southern Zambia. The Perth-based company will carry out a desktop study to evaluate preferred options for the transmission and integration of the power. Zesco will provide access to its technical capability and information to assist with the study, and Australian investment and advisory firm Maysen and Borowski Investments will support the companies.

A detailed request for proposals (RfP) has been issued to two bidders – Tlou Energy and Kalahari Sustainable Energy subsidiary Sekaname – selected by the government to develop a coalbed methane project of up to 100MW. Bids are due from the two companies by 12 July. The scheme is intended to establish pilot projects that will ultimately lead to establishing a gas supply for the 90MW Orapa peaking power plant, owned by the Botswana Power Corporation. Few details are yet known as the RfP requires confidentiality from the bidders.