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The Government of Ghana (GoG) is under fire as details emerge of a costly arbitral ruling over an emergency purchase agreement (EPA) signed with Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC), which in 2015 procured two GE LM 6000 combined cycle power plants in Italy to supply 107MW at Aboadze.

Tullow Oil moved back into the London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 250 index in early March, after its share price strengthened in line with a higher oil price and amid optimism about its debt. Tullow’s restoration to the index follows the cancellation of smart meter installer Calisen’s listing after it was taken private. Tullow was dropped from the FTSE 250 in March 2020, when its shares were suffering from a combination of a sharply lower oil price and the company’s own woes.

As African Energy editor Thalia Griffiths leaves to explore new opportunities, colleagues asked for her take on developments after 23 years leading the publication. For all the tragedies like the current Ethiopian conflict, she sees real hope for a better future on a continent where, in many places, governance has improved and previously marginalised populations are becoming empowered to enact positive change.

Tullow Oil has brought back the Maersk Venturer drillship for its planned development drilling at the TEN and Jubilee fields, with a conditional letter of award announced on 4 February. Maersk Drilling said the contract would last around four years with an expected start in Q2 2021 and an estimated value of $370m. The drillship has been warm-stacked in Las Palmas since finishing a drilling campaign in Ghana for Tullow in mid-2020.

Plastics manufacturer Miniplast Ltd has begun commercial operations at a 700kWp grid-tied solar PV plant developed and built by Stella Futura at Spintex Industrial Area in Accra. The plant is funded by Empower New Energy, the owner and asset manager, which sells power to Miniplast through a 20-year power supply agreement. 

The arrival of a floating regasification unit at Tema is the final piece in the jigsaw for sub-Saharan Africa’s first offshore LNG import project. Long-awaited LNG imports are intended to reduce the cost of gas while stabilising supply in the east of the country, writes Dan Marks 

Much is expected of Joe Biden after he is sworn in on 20 January; some of the anticipated policy shifts the United States’ 46th president and his administration may deliver, others they may not – including reversing some controversial policies promoted by his predecessor.

Nigeria is proving to be a testing ground for trucking gas on African roads, while Circle Gas’s LPG-based cooking solution is building up a consumer base in Kenya and Tanzania. Africa remains a frontier market for ‘virtual pipelines’ and other innovative uses for gas, but business models are evolving to create some vibrant new industries, writes Jon Marks.

Ghana’s imposition of a unitisation deal on Eni and Springfield E&P highlights the government’s impatience at delays in developing hydrocarbons resources, but may also reveal an element of resource nationalism as the state throws its weight behind a homegrown energy company, writes James Gavin.

The Volta River Authority (VRA) has announced the completion of a major retrofit of the 160MW Kpong hydropower plant, which will extend its operating lifetime by 30 years. The recommissioning of Ghana’s second largest hydropower station was marked by a ceremony held on 26 October in the presence of President Nana Akufo-Addo. Rehabilitation of the plant, which was financed by the French Development Agency, began in October 2014.

President Nana Akufo-Addo on 10 October inaugurated the 6.5MW Lawra solar PV plant in the Upper West region. Akufo-Addo officiated at the groundbreaking ceremony for both Lawra and its larger sister project, the 13.5MW Kaleo solar PV plant, in February.

Ghana Gas held a ground-breaking ceremony on 7 October for a new LPG bottling plant at the coastal town of Axim in the Western Region.

Ghana’s Ministry of Finance announced in late September that Cenit Energy Ltd has agreed new terms for its 126MW dual fuel power plant. The government has been attempting to drive down the cost of power by renegotiating power purchase agreements (PPAs) with IPPs. After fact-finding consultations earlier in the year, talks with operating or near-operating IPPs have moved on to more substantive negotiations, and Cenit is the first to reach agreement.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation still plans to sell its assets in Ghana – comprising 24.077% of the Jubilee field and 17% of the Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme integrated oil and gas project – after Total pulled out of a wider sale deal.

Aker Energy has said that while it put a final investment decision for the Pecan field on hold in March, it has been working with the government on revised plans for a phased development using a redeployed FPSO vessel to reduce costs. “Aker Energy and partners are currently assessing several FPSO candidates for redeployment, and the final selection will be based on technical capabilities and cost,” the company said in a 5 June statement.