Search results

Denmark’s Vestas has said the 241.5MW Gulf of Suez wind power plant is expected to reach commercial operations in Q4 22 or Q1 23. Fernando Iwan Glazer, head of marketing for Vestas’ African operations, told African Energy the project was proceeding on schedule.

London (LSE)-, Irish- and Ghana Stock Exchange-listed Tullow Oil’s merger with Capricorn Energy (ex-Cairn Energy) brings together two FTSE250 independent exploration and production companies to create an Africa-focused entity with a bigger portfolio and longer pockets. Capricorn’s balance sheet complements Tullow’s regional depth, but questions remain over who gains most from the merger and the deals promised to follow.

Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX)-listed Tenaz Energy Corporation is buying Egypt- and Morocco-focused gas producer SDX Energy in an all-share $27m acquisition backed by SDX’s management and board. The deal will see SDX delist from London’s AIM market and brings an ambitious Canada-based independent into North Africa.

Authorities in Cairo are anxious to get some high-profile green hydrogen (GH2) schemes going as quickly as possible. This means international companies that have signed MoUs with the government to develop schemes are in a race against time to complete a six-step project preparation plan before COP27 opens in November.

A high level government authorisation doubling the permitted height of wind turbines in all areas of Egypt could dramatically increase the amount of green power generation capacity that can be developed.

Not all headwinds are fair for Egypt’s ambitious plans for regional energy leadership. The achievement of some of the lowest wind and solar generation tariffs anywhere in Africa has been one of the signal achievements of Egypt’s renewable energy strategy to date, but rates will now go back up given supply bottlenecks with China and other issues.

Galvanised by the possibilities presented by green hydrogen (GH2), the Cairo authorities have drawn up an extraordinary vision for transforming the Egyptian energy sector and economy in the coming decades. The plans include tens or possibly hundreds of gigawatts of renewable power, barrages of electrolysers, an entirely new export-focused energy infrastructure, plus renewables-powered sea water desalination projects to break the millennia-old dependence on the River Nile. Most of the technology, financing and fully worked-out strategies have yet to be put in place, but the government aims to sign the first commercial deals at the COP27 summit in November. African Energy gives details of this policy in a series of articles

With less than six months to go before COP27 opens at Sharm El Sheikh, a power shift is under way as energy and momentum drain from the United Kingdom’s presidency and build in Egypt’s camp. The early signs are that the next event will have a very different tone and character from COP26 in Glasgow, with considerably less emphasis on making big policy claims that may be hard to keep and a focus on getting climate-related business deals signed.

The refinancing of six plants at the Benban solar park in Upper Egypt is a key landmark for strategic investors Scatec and Africa50, but also for the lenders involved in the newly issued green bond and for the Egyptian government. By crowding private sector capital into renewable energy (RE) projects, the transaction is an example of blended finance in action. It could point the way to further private sector support for African RE projects

SDX Energy has announced a spate of development drilling in Egypt, following a strategy outlined in its 2021 annual report.

Amea Power’s memorandum of understanding with a strategic group of Egyptian state entities places the UAE-based power developer among a small but growing number of investors contributing to building a green hydrogen hub at the southern entrance of the Suez Canal

The Egyptian government is pressing on with economic reforms despite a commodities price shock caused by the Ukraine war. With at least $22bn in support pledged by Gulf allies in recent weeks – and talks about further assistance from the IMF – the government is maintaining cheap bread for the people while indicating that other structural measures, such as energy sector liberalisation, will continue.

Less than three weeks after Norway’s Scatec signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop an export-focused green hydrogen and green ammonia production facility in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk has signed an MoU with exactly the same team of key institutions to explore the establishment of large-scale green fuel production in the zone

Petroleum minister Tarek El Molla has confirmed the appointment of former Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) chairman Abed Ezz El Regal as Abu Qir chairman and managing director. 

Norway’s Scatec ASA now has a choice of green hydrogen (GH2) projects in Egypt. Just months after signing pioneering agreement with fertilizer producer Fertiglobe, Scatec has signed up for a multi-gigawatt export-driven scheme in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, alongside The Sovereign Fund of Egypt, Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA). Abu Qir Fertilizers and Chemical Industries – now run by former Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) chairman Abed Ezz El Regal – is also studying a GH2 and ammonia project.