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Among Russia’s portfolio of interests in Africa – which include a large military sales business and nuclear development ambitions – state-owned entities such as Gazprom, Gazpromneft and Rosneft have built up hydrocarbons industry interests in markets around the continent, from Algeria in the north to Nigeria, and Angola and Mozambique south of the Sahara.  African Energy examines Russia's investments in Africa's upstream sector and its possible strategic objectives.

Ethiopia’s ‘unilateral action’ in starting limited power generation at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) violates its diplomatic obligations, Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry told the Council of the League of Arab States on 9 March.

Lekela Power has formally inaugurated the commercial operation of its 250MW West Bakr wind  farm in the Gulf of Suez, which operates turbines installed by Siemens Gamesa.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has signed a memorandum of understanding with a coalition of local and international companies to support the decarbonisation of downstream facilities in Egypt.

Egyptian Electric Utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency (EgyptERA) is growing into the role envisaged for the power sector regulator in the landmark 2015 Electricity Law. The electricity industry regulator has been busy with the issuing and renewal of generation and distribution licences to private businesses, which are opening significant niches in Egypt’s huge energy market – chipping away at the huge role still played by state-owned enterprises gathered under the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) umbrella. EgyptERA has recently awarded a licence to private sector renewables developer Karm Solar to run a mini-grid supplying resorts and hotels in the Red Sea resort of Marsa Alam. It has also renewed licences for Emac Utilities and Services’ diesel-fired scheme at Port Ghalib and for industrial park operator Al-Tajamouat Investment Egypt – Taqa Power’s Global Power Company subsidiary, which has industrial and tourism-related clients, and real estate developer Amer Group.

A range of potential buyers including African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) and a string of Chinese firms are eyeing up a majority stake in wind power developer Lekela Power, which has installed more than 1GW of capacity in South Africa, Egypt and Senegal.

Germany and US-based experimental energy storage and trading company H2-Industries has obtained preliminary approval from Egypt’s General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone to develop an unprecedentedly large $3bn waste-to-hydrogen plant in East Port Said using thermolyzing technology. The project also includes a substantial power generation component. African Energy’s John Hamilton spoke to H2-I executive chairman Michael Stusch to obtain details of capacities, financing, expected pricing, and the next steps.

The commercial use of thermolysis or pyrolysis to convert organic waste into biofuels, syngas or pure hydrogen is still experimental in Africa, although the underlying technology is relatively well-established elsewhere. Most of the 22 operating biogas power plants recorded in African Energy Live Data use other methods. Early adopters of the technology include the Ford Silverton plant in Pretoria, H2-Industries and Oak Group Holdings in Egypt, Ghana’s Kumasi Technical University and the British Nigerian Pyrogenesys-led consortium. Success for any one of them will open wide new commercial opportunities, while also helping to address pressing environmental concerns.

The Sovereign Fund of Egypt CEO Ayman Soliman intends to launch a new renewable energy sub-fund in 2022 which will take over assets belonging to some existing government energy sector institutions. He is also planning to invest heavily in renewables-powered sea water desalination projects which are essential for long-term water security.

EBRD support for a $340m green bond to refinance Scatec’s six plants at the Benban Solar Park in Upper Egypt marks the latest phase in the maturing of the solar PV complex where the authorities are already contemplating an extension which could add hundreds more megawatts of capacity.

Eni and BP were among the winners in Egypt’s latest upstream bid round. But most blocks on offer went unawarded, as the Ministry of Petroleum failed in its ambition to open up major exploration frontier in the Mediterranean Sea. Instead, bidders stuck closely to areas they already knew

The potential for electricity and other green energy export projects to transform the fundamentals of a nation’s power sector is strongly evident in Egypt.

The authorities have been obliged to relaunch a tender for 19 power transformers urgently needed for the rehabilitation of all three hydro plants at Aswan on the River Nile, as not enough bidders responded to the original process under which expressions of interest were invited in August.

The first cargo of liquified natural gas  from Egypt to Croatia arrived at the Krk island floating LNG import terminal on 10 November. The terminal was inaugurated earlier this year and has capacity to handle 2.6 bcm/yr.

With the imminent start of commercial operations at its 250MW West Bakr wind farm in Egypt, renewable power generation company Lekela Power will have installed more than 1GW of operating capacity in Africa, creating a company from which private equity firm Actis could now exit, writes Dan Marks