Search results

Australia’s Magnis Energy Technologies has made important advances in its 230,000 t/yr Nachu graphite project, with financing expected to be in place by June and first production in early 2025, bolstered by an offtake agreement with Tesla and plans for a gas-to-power plant, writes Marc Howard, recently in Dar es Salaam.

Early years electricity demand at the Magnis Energy Technologies group’s Nachu graphite production plant will be around 24MW, with mining and processing operations expected require some 135,000 MWh/yr.

Developer Aqua Power is seeking to use its 45MW gas-to-power plant in Mtwara, Tanzania to supply troubled Cabo Delgado province in northern Mozambique, in an ambitious privately-financed plan that would build a 220km high-voltage transmission line and substation in Palma, writes Marc Howard.

London AIM-listed Helium One Global has entered an agreement with Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed Noble Helium “to co-operate in sourcing and securing a suitable drilling rig” for drilling operations in the Rukwa Basin.  Helium One said its Rukwa project is the “largest known primary helium resource in the world”.

Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed Walkabout Resources said on 27 February that it had secured $10m of funding from the United States’ Battery Metals Capital Group (BMCG). Construction at Walkabout’s 40,000 t/yr Lindi Jumbo graphite project has been funded using equity to date.

Shareholders in London AIM-listed Wentworth Resources have approved a $73.4m takeover by French independent Maurel & Prom (M&P). Some 75.26% of shareholders voted in favour across two polls; a 75% vote was required.

Melbourne-headquartered mining giant BHP has closed its second $50m tranche of investment into the Kabanga nickel development in north-western Tanzania, taking its indirect equity stake in project vehicle Tembo Nickel Corporation to 14.3%.  Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) has been lined up for grid power supply to the mine.

President Samia Hassan’s government has expressed a warm welcome for private capital in the power and other sectors – to the extent it expects investors will develop most of the capacity planned to be added to the grid this decade. But risks go with rewards, and in a feisty address to industry players energy minister January Makamba has categorically ruled out sovereign guarantees, insisting developers finance and structure projects on their commercial merits alone, and show his ministry more respect, writes Marc Howard in Dar es Salaam.

Two companies have already advanced electricity supply schemes that are not being developed as independent power projects (IPPs), energy minister January Makamba told EnergyNet’s Tanzania Energy Co-operation Summit in Dar es Salaam.

The host government agreement (HGA) for the $30bn Lindi liquefied natural gas (LNG) project – also known as Tanzania LNG – remains under discussion, according to Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) officials.

Power supply to the Lindi Jumbo graphite mine will be provided by a 33kV line from the southern circuit of Tanzanian Electrical Supply Company (Tanseco)’s grid.

A front-runner in helping East Africa to meet its ambitions to tap vast graphite reserves, Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed Walkabout Resources’ 40,000 t/yr Lindi Jumbo graphite project has reached an advanced stage of development. Its developer told African Energy that the project had been boosted by President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s market-oriented reforms and by robust global demand, which is supporting Tanzanian ambitions to become a significant supplier of the critical mineral. The project and graphite's role in the energy transition is analysed by Marc Howard in Dar es Salaam.    

Analysis of the African Energy Live Data platform shows installed electricity generation capacity in East Africa is set to be boosted by nearly 15GW, as mega-hydroelectric projects finally come to fruition and renewables gain pace over the next five years. The project pipeline could grow even more quickly if the ambitious goals set out by Kenya and other governments are achieved.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the European Union-Africa Investment Platform (EU-AIP) are lining up a package of around $300m for the construction of the long-planned Kakono hydroelectric power (HEP) plant.

The Julius Nyerere hydroelectric power project has passed another significant milestone with the impounding and first water filling of the main dam on Rufiji River. African Energy takes a closer look at a project that on completion promises a major hike in Tanzania’s generation capacity.