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Published April 2024, this map illustrates West Africa power interconnections across Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Gambia and Senegal. The map shows the OMVG loop, Cote d'Ivoire-Liberia-Sierra Leone-Guinea (CLSG) line and Guinea-Mali Interconnection Project (PIEGM), with substations marked. Other actual and planned power lines across the region are also shown, ranging from 90kV to 161kV. The locations of 20MW+ power generation facilities that are operating, under construction or planned are shown by type – including liquid fuels, natural gas, coal, hybrid, hybrid and battery, hydroelectricity, solar, solar and battery, wind, biomass/biogas and battery. The map is presented as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.  

Rehabilitation of the 178MW turbine at Inga II, along with plans for up to 210MW from on-site generators to tackle grid instability and increased electricity imports from Zambia are all on track, according to Ivanhoe Mines, as the Canadian operator works to provide sufficient power to Democratic Republic of Congo’s strategic Kamoa-Kakula copper mine.

Low rainfall in Guinea has led to yet another round of loadshedding and, in turn, widespread protests and deadly violence. Interim President Mamady Doumbouya is keen to end loadshedding and stoke the economy before holding delayed elections in 2025, but a small pipeline of projects raises questions about how soon new capacity can be brought online, writes Marc Howard.

Loadshedding in Guinea has fed into widespread protests that are making life difficult for General Mamady Doumbouya, as the interim president looks to boost support for his regime with an economic boost from Simandou and other projects before holding delayed elections in 2025.

DPA Southern Africa has broken ground on the Bloemfontein solar PV plant in Free State, which will supply power to Africa Data Centre sites in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy is seeking proposals for 616MW/246MWh of battery energy storage systems at five Eskom substation in Free State province.

Abu Dhabi’s involvement in conflicts in Sudan and Libya is back in focus, after the UAE opened a second field hospital in eastern Chad, following evidence that its existing hospital was used as a cover for supplying weapons to Sudanese civil war leader Hemedti’s RSF militia. It fits into a wider pattern of Emirati involvement in African conflicts, as well as business.

Sonatrach has signed a rare heads of agreement with a smaller company, Sweden’s Tethys Oil.

TotalEnergies has signed a memorandum of understanding with Sonatrach on further developing natural gas resources in the Timimoun region, where the French major has existing interests, while an LNG supply contract has been extended by another year.

Political uncertainty grips South Africa ahead of national and provincial elections on 29 May, with opinion polls suggesting the ruling African National Congress could lose its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years, raising the possibility of a coalition government and the prospect of a surge in ‘pork barrel’ politics.

South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has appointed Globeleq’s Red Sands project as the fifth preferred bidder under its battery energy storage independent power producer procurement programme (BESIPPP) first bid window.  The project will be the largest standalone battery energy storage system in Africa and ends the initial phase of the BESIPPP programme.

In a significant boost to Zambia’s installed capacity, Copperbelt Energy Corporation’s Itimpi solar PV plant has come online in Garneton, Kitwe district.

Just over a year after Infinity Power acquired Lekela Power to create the largest renewable energy company in Africa, the Cairo-based developer is close to signing a power purchase agreement for a proposed 200MW wind plant close to Lekela’s existing 250MW West Bakr wind farm. There are also plans to expand Lekela’s Taiba N’Diaye wind plant in Senegal and to compete for projects in South Africa.

Canadian miner Lucara Diamond Corporation has concluded a feasibility study that paves the way for the construction of a utility-scale solar PV plant and battery storage energy system to supply power to its Karowe mine.

London-listed Energean has taken on the operatorship of the Lixus and Rissana licence areas, alongside partners Chariot and state-owned Onhym