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Starsight, CrossBoundary, Daystar and Blue Camel are among a growing number of operators who are building a major corporate business as companies seek secure electricity supply, writes Marc Howard.

Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) executive secretary Simbi Wabote said the 10,000 b/d Duport modular refinery is on track to be completed before the end of December.

Local developer Sunrise Power and Transmission Company (SPTCL) has waived a $500m arbitral award owed to it by the federal government in relation to the 3GW Mambilla hydroelectric power (HEP) plant, and has ceased arbitral proceedings.

Nigeria’s Daystar Power Energy Solutions announced it has reached an agreement with the privately-held, Lagos-based Seven-Up Bottling Company (SBC) to install 10.5MWp of solar PV capacity across five of its sites.

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has extended almost $1.8bn of financing support to the Nigerian oil and gas industry in deals with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and local independent Eroton E&P in a sign that some export credit agencies are still ready to support hydrocarbons despite the post-COP26 pushback against the sector 

Plans for the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project have edged forward, with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) announcing a call for expressions of interest for two consultancy contracts on the grandiose scheme.

The National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers (Nupeng) suspended a planned nationwide strike by oil tanker drivers on 10 October to allow for discussions with the government. The drivers had been planning to start their industrial action the following day over poor road conditions and other issues.

Demand for commercial and industrial (C&I) power projects is surging, particularly in eastern and southern Africa. In key markets such as South Africa and Kenya, customers have opted for C&I solutions that not only offer cheaper tariffs but also greater reliability than the grid. These imperatives have also prompted a shift to C&I in the West African market, where the sector has seen considerable activity this year although market players still deem it to be ‘early days’.

In another step towards the promised overhaul of Nigeria’s hydrocarbons industry, President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed the board and management of the soon-to-be incorporated Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPC).

A row has broken out after the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (Nerc) said generation companies (gencos) should stop selling power to large consumers through agreements signed under the controversial eligible customer regime (ECR), but which it had not approved.

Politics in Algiers and Rabat are driving hugely ambitious – and arguably less than necessary – schemes to pipe gas from West Africa, supplying northern Nigeria and Niger in Algeria’s project and an array of potential markets along the proposed Moroccan route.

Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has criticised the impetus from rich countries to divest from fossil fuels in a strongly-worded article for New York-based Foreign Affairs magazine, In The divestment delusion: Why banning fossil fuel investments would crush Africa, published on 31 August.

The Kaduna State government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria to supply gas to the state, which does not have a gas supply.

There have been further twists in the long-running $10bn arbitration case between the federal government of Nigeria and the British Virgin Islands-registered Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) over a 2010 gas supply and processing agreement (GSPA). There are signs the government may appeal against a US court ruling on sovereign immunity and a trial has now been scheduled at the High Court in London for January 2023.

At the 1 September meeting of the Federal Executive Council, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari fired power minister Saleh Mamman along with agriculture and rural development minister Mohammed Nanono. Mamman was replaced by Abubakar Aliyu, formerly works and housing minister.