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China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) will offer $460m in contracts on the Kingfisher oil field, following a final investment decision announced on 3 November.

Energy and mineral development minister Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu told a press conference on 3 November that China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) had made a final investment decision on the Kingfisher field and was now ready to proceed.

Controversy continues to dog financing from China, the world’s largest bilateral lender by a distance. Its debt provision has transformed the African funding landscape over the past two decades: according to African Energy Live Data, $38bn of Chinese investment was committed to power projects across the continent between 2014 and 2019 alone.

East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) has begun to line up suppliers and started the land acquisition process in Tanzania, ahead of construction of the 1,443km pipeline between Kabaale in Uganda and Tanga port in Tanzania.

Work on the construction of a 294km 132kV transmission line connecting Kole, Gulu, Nebbi and Arua, and associated 132/33kV substations at each location, is 40% complete.

Developers of small hydropower (SHP) projects in East Africa are facing greater challenges in raising finance for their schemes, as a result of weak national grids and a shift away from take-or-pay arrangements by offtakers, according to one industry figure.

Construction will be complete at Winch Energy’s solar PV and battery storage mini-grid development on Bunjako Island by end-September, Winch Energy Uganda country manager Alex Wanume told African Energy. The mini-grids, with an aggregate capacity of 0.128MWp, will bring power to 500 homes and businesses. Development of the project was first announced in June 2018.

The government suspended the operations of 54 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on 20 August, including the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (Afiego) which had been campaigning on behalf of people affected by the planned East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop).

Frontier Energy partner Daniel Schultz told African Energy that construction had been completed at the 5MW Kakaka hydropower plant, with commercial operations expected by end-August or September after Covid-19-related restrictions had caused significant delays.

Construction of Winch Energy’s solar PV and battery storage mini-grid development on Uganda’s Bunjako Island will be completed by the end of September, Winch Energy country manager for Uganda Alex Wanume tells African Energy Live Data.

Jubilee Holdings has increased its stake in the 250MW Bujagali Falls hydropower plant to 40.9% in a $40.7m transaction. The insurance company had already increased its stake in the project to 25% after acquiring some of SN Power’s share last year.

The combination of solar PV and hydropower offers plenty of potential, but the jury is still out on the economic viability of the emerging floating solar photovoltaics (FPV) technology, writes Martin Burdett.

German development bank KfW has said the Kikagati hydropower plant on the Kagera River, on the border between Uganda and Tanzania, is due online by year-end. KfW has provided a $12.3m tariff top-up for the project through its Global Energy Transfer Feed in Tariff programme that launched in Uganda in 2013 AE 388/7.

Uganda Electricity Generation Company (UEGCL) on 30 May announced the commissioning date for the 600MW Karuma hydropower project had been further delayed, this time to 22 June 2022. The delay was attributed by UEGCL to faults in installed electromechanical systems.