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Developers of small hydropower (SHP) projects in East Africa are facing greater challenges in raising finance for their schemes, as a result of weak national grids and a shift away from take-or-pay arrangements by offtakers, according to one industry figure.

A presidential taskforce report which recommended that PPAs be redrawn has been greeted with resignation by stakeholders who have been ground down by years of dithering. Industry players are now left hoping the government will adopt a realistic outlook in renegotiations, writes Dan Marks

Tullow Oil’s redesigned South Lokichar development project will boost prospective oil flows while adding to the project’s already prodigious cost, writes James Gavin

Geneva-headquartered commodities trader Montfort Group has acquired Matola Terminal de Armazenamento de Petróleos’s oil product storage facility in the Mozambican port of Matola. The unit, with 58,000m3-plus of clean product storage capacity, will be owned, developed and operated in partnership with Malaysia-based trading company Energi Asia.

A rarity until a few years ago, battery and renewable power plants have more recently outcompeted fossil fuel projects without subsidy in several African markets. The AIX: Financing Battery Storage meeting heard about the extent Bess projects are making headway, despite financiers’ reservations.

The 11MWp solar PV plant at the Mwale Medical and Technology City (MMTC) in Butere, Kakamega county will be commissioned in September, a spokesman told African Energy.

The developers of the newly-commissioned 100MW Kipeto wind power plant have said they will start installing a back-up battery storage unit next year to stabilise electricity supply into the national grid.

East Africa’s largest economy is keen to stay in the good books of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group, but citizens are increasingly unhappy with rising taxation on fuels as Kenya wrestles with its debt burden, writes Kimemia Mugo in Nairobi.

Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) has energised the 308km 400/220/132kV Olkaria-Lessos-Kisumu transmission project, significantly boosting the supply network in the west. The new connection upgrades western Kenya’s power capacity and will facilitate stable supply from the Olkaria geothermal fields to the area adjacent to Lake Victoria including Kisumu City and Kisumu seaport.

Dutch development financier FMO has signed a $3m top-up of its existing senior loan to off-grid pioneer M-Kopa, adding to its existing $11m commitment.

When most African governments struggle to fund even the most essential projects, costly new technologies may seem a luxury. But rethinking how they can be applied to energy networks can be a valuable exercise for policy-makers and investors: ‘disruptive technology’ can have far-reaching benefits, or prove a red herring for cash-strapped economies.

Kenya is pushing ahead with plans for offshore licence auctions, following a 3D data acquisition contract signed with Houston-based Ion Geophysical Corp, announced in early April. Ion has an exclusive agreement with the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum for 3D multi-client programmes in offshore Kenya.

With a $1.8bn bond offer launched on 6 May attracting strong demand from investors, Tullow Oil is now in a position to reduce its debt pile. The bond is due to be completed on 17 May and attention will then turn to plans for Tullow’s Kenyan operations.

Kenya’s Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has invited public comments on the draft energy (mini-grid) regulations 2021 ahead of their publication later this year. EPRA has set a deadline of 9 June for suggested amendments, which will become the new legal framework for mini-grids.

Could a deep water exploration well, which industry observers expect to be drilled next year on Italian major Eni’s 50,677km2 of gross undeveloped surface area in the Lamu Basin, finally give a new perspective on Kenya’s hydrocarbons potential?