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The 6.9MW run-of-river Muyembe hydroelectric power (HEP) plant has been commissioned. Power will be sold to Uganda Electricity Transmission Company under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
Kenyan President William Ruto visited his Djiboutian counterpart Ismail Guelleh on 11 June, signing four MoUs. One MoU was for the proposed Hanle Garabbayyis geothermal development.
Not since the Cold War have countries in the Global South featured so prominently in the thinking of the world’s major powers – something clearly visible in the shifting patterns in energy markets and renewable investments. For many, that presents an opportunity. Angola’s President João Lourenço has sought to position his country as an investor-friendly environment and to convince critics he is serious about tackling corruption and other ills that flourished under his predecessor José Eduardo dos Santos. This is a calculated effort to win support from donors and has already received a positive response in Washington and other capitals.
New York-listed energy services provider Expro Group Holdings has won a $30m, five-year well intervention and integrity contract from France’s TotalEnergies for the Tilenga project in Uganda.
Perenco has boosted oil output by 4,500 b/d at its offshore Boatou acreage in Republic of Congo. The Paris-based independent said it brought four offshore wells online between March and May.
Chinese engineering, procurement and construction contractor Sinohydro Corporation has started recruiting 700 construction workers for the Kinguélé Aval hydroelectric power (HEP) plant on the M’Bei River in Estuaire province.
The Africa Infrastructure Development Association (Afida) has invited up to 30 early stage developers to a workshop in Cape Town in October, in what the Mauritius-headquartered group said was part of efforts to address issues around long development times for power projects, which can pose particular difficulties for newer and smaller developers.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Opec+ allies agreed an agenda for H2 2023 at the cartel’s 4 June ministerial meeting in Vienna.
Parastatal Ethiopia Investment Holdings (EIH) and the Ministry of Finance are seeking proposals for 225MW of bagasse-fired co-generation capacity for eight state-owned sugar companies.
The first phase of the 50MW Solenova Caraculo solar PV project in Angola's Namibe province has been inaugurated.
Africa-focused venture capital fund E3 Capital, formerly known as Energy Access Ventures, has reached a first close of $48.1m for its Nairobi-based E3 Low Carbon Economy Fund, in partnership with London-headquartered Lion’s Head Global Partners.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has approved plans by utility Eskom to procure 344.5MW of capacity from new solar PV and battery energy storage plants.
The timing of the official commissioning of the 650,000 b/d Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Plant on 22 May said as much about local political sensitivities as it did about the facility’s undoubted importance for the Nigerian energy sector.
On 25 May, Niger’s Ministry of Energy and Renewable Energies (known by its French acronym Meer) said the 1.7MW Dirkou solar-diesel hybrid power plant, with 2.8MWh of battery storage, had been commissioned.
Establishing a reliable financial framework for building cross-border power interconnections may be the single most effective way to improve electrification across sub-Saharan Africa. Yet bureaucratic impediments are holding up progress at an important scheme, the Southern Africa Power Pool (Sapp)’s Regional Transmission Infrastructure Financing Facility (RTIFF), which could implement its first projects in two to three years – with the right support.