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The UK Court of Appeal found against the campaigning group Friends of the Earth in a mid-January ruling on UK government support for the project. However, there are still many obstacles for those seeking to raise finance from western sources for Sub-Saharan hydrocarbons projects.

A realignment of global alliances is ever more apparent as the first anniversary of Russia’s attempted conquest of Ukraine approaches and global power and wealth seem to concentrate in ever fewer hands. This has been seen in the solidarity among members of the Opec+ oil exporters’ alliance, in which long western-aligned Saudi Arabia and President Vladimir Putin’s Russia remain the driving forces.

Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed explorer Triton Minerals has proposed Shanghai Stock Exchange-listed Shandong Yulong Gold Company as the Chinese debt arranger for its Acuabe graphite project in Mozambique.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has provided funding to carry out feasibility studies for a battery energy storage system (BESS) and a pump storage hydropower plant. Consultants are invited to submit expressions of interest by 27 January.

The Mozambican government endorsed a draft law creating a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) during a cabinet meeting on 29 November and sent the bill to the Assembly of the Republic (parliament) for approval.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is to lend €125m ($131m) to Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) to renovate its power-generating system.  

New regulations have been released for the off-grid energy sector in Mozambique, in an effort to unlock more private sector investment and accelerate the development of off-grid technologies.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (Cnooc) International and Italy’s Eni were the only companies to bid in the sixth licensing round, with Cnooc submitting offers for five blocks and Eni targeting just one.

The Energy Regulatory Authority (Arene) has invited applications to develop the Lichinga and Manje solar PV plants. Bidders are expected to develop, finance, design, construct, operate and maintain one or both 30MW projects.

Mozambique’s graphite reserves are situated in Cabo Delgado, where an Islamist insurgency has raged since 2017. The violence has meant that the area’s biggest investments, TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil’s planned onshore liquefaction trains on the Afungi peninsula, remain on hold.

Mozambique is Africa’s undisputed graphite leader – at least for now. Total output at Balama (officially named Twigg) was recorded at 72,000 tonnes in 2021, but reached 128,000 tonnes in Q1-Q3 2022 – almost double Brazil’s total 2021 production, according to USGS data.

Electricity to supply Syrah Resources’ Twigg/Balama graphite project in Mozambique has been provided by 15.4MW of diesel generation capacity, but in December 2020 the Australian company signed a memorandum of understanding with Solarcentury to develop an 11.25MWp solar PV and 8.5MW/MWh battery storage facility.

A feasibility study has confirmed the technical viability of Ncondezi Energy’s planned 300MW solar PV plus battery storage project in Mozambique’s Tete province. A preferred site has been selected but not yet announced. Ncondezi said it is close to cross-border interconnectors.

Loading of the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from Eni’s 3.4m t/yr Coral Sul floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) plant is due to take place on 14 November, an industry source told African Energy.

The African Development Bank, through its Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, has approved a $2.5m grant to the Mozambican government to finance renewable energy studies and support capacity building at Electricidade de Mocambique (EDM).