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TotalEnergies’ discovery of light oil with associated gas on its Venus prospect could prove another galvanising movement in a critical year for Namibia’s nascent oil and gas industry, with more drilling planned by IOCs.

Analysis of the latest information on the African Energy Live Data platform shows that over half of the 23.4GW electricity generation capacity expected online by 2027 across southern Africa will come from public procurement rounds, some 12.5GW of it from renewables and hybrid technologies.

The delayed 5MWp Unisun Energy Okatope Solar PV plant has started operations, Namibia’s Electricity Control Board manager for economic regulation, Pinehas Mutota, told African Energy.

The start of appraisal drilling on the Venus discovery by Africa Oil Corporation is due by end-March, amid reports of a further find by Shell which is separate to its previous Graff and La Rona discoveries.

Namibian President Hage Geingob has announced the time frame for signing the Hyphen Hydrogen Energy project implementation agreement .

Canadian independent Reconnaissance Energy Africa plans to spud a second well in December, after failing to find commercial volumes of oil or gas at its debut 8-2 well in the frontier onshore Kavango Basin.

Southern Africa leaders have made a joint appeal at COP27 for nearly $20bn from investors to complete electricity transmission interconnectors and fund new renewable energy projects, in part to increase energy capacity in the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).

Norway’s PGS (formerly Petroleum Geo-Services) has said  that it has won a 3D exploration contract in Namibia for “a major energy company”. PGS did not respond to African Energy’s request for comment on the client.

The Indian government is seeking a long-term crude oil supply deal from Namibia. Comments attributed to a senior government official, and reported in the Indian press, said the world’s third-largest oil importer was looking for a “long-term contract” that would protect it from volatile global energy markets.

US supermajor Chevron has confirmed its purchase of an 80% working interest in a highly prospective block offshore Namibia, in a move that affirms the Orange Basin’s status as one of the world’s most exciting gas frontiers – underlined by TotalEnergies’ latest view that its nearby Venus well points to a possibly giant discovery.

Canada’s Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica) has agreed to buy half of Namcor Exploration and Production’s 10% interest in the 6.3m-acre petroleum exploration licence (PEL) 73 in Kavango Basin.

Independent energy trader BB Energy said it intends to start trading solar-generated electricity on the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) by end-2023.

Schonau Solar Energy (SSE) has become Namibia’s first independent power producer (IPP) permitted to sell electricity to the South African Power Pool (SAPP) grid.

HDF Energy aims to produce electricity from 2024 at its planned green hydrogen plant (GH2) in Swakopmund. The French independent power producer’s (IPP) scoping report – seen as a crucial permit for the project – has been accepted by local authorities, allowing HDF to finalise its environmental and social impact assessment (Esia) report.

Many critical questions remain to be answered, as supermajors keep their counsel on developing a major new offshore oil and gas play, but things seem to be moving ahead quickly with Chevron said to be re-entering the Orange Basin after two decades, the government saying it has agreed with Shell and TotalEnergies that production from their Graff and Venus discoveries should start ‘as soon as possible’, and BW Energy making promising noises about the Kudu gas-to-power play. Local players are set for a big payday as the Namibian upstream becomes a supermajor focus, writes Marc Howard.