Search results

Despite a five-fold increase in installed capacity over the past decade Guinea’s electricity supply industry will need huge investment to keep pace with growing demand, unlock stranded generation and increase low levels of access. The government is turning to mining companies to help finance this expansion, writes David Slater.

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.

The announcement that ArcelorMittal had finally agreed with President George Weah’s government to expand the Luxembourg-based steelmaker’s iron mining and logistics operations in Liberia was especially ill-timed for Conakry, coming days after Colonel Mamady Doumbouya’s coup d’état, which removed President Alpha Condé.

Financial close for the 128MW Sambangalou cross-border hydroelectric power (HEP) project will likely occur in Q4 21 or Q1 2022, Andritz senior vice president Alexander Schwab told African Energy.

The military junta that deposed President Alpha Condé remains insistent that it’s taking a ‘business as usual’ approach as it starts discussions over the formation of a new government, but the outlook for Guinea’s political landscape, and the energy sector, remains up in the air, writes David Slater

Guinea has world-scale iron ore, bauxite and other mineral resources, as media reports quickly reminded their consumers when news came in on Sunday 5 September that an imposing-looking putschist, Groupement des Forces Spéciales (GPS) commander Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, had seized power in Conakry.

Officially, Conakry and Monrovia are lined up to develop a new transport corridor that will bring iron ore from the Guinean north-east for export via a railway corridor to port facilities in Liberia. The governments have a transit agreement in place and are carrying on with what will be a major project for the cash-strapped states.

The developers behind the 40MWac Khoumagueli solar PV project have signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Electricité de Guinée (EDG). The state utility’s first grid-tied solar project is designed to complement EDG’s nearby 75MW Garafiri hydroelectric power plant, helping to offset the impact of fluctuating rainfall on hydropower generation.

France’s Orion Energies expects to commission two of its projects in 2022 and 2023. Financial close for the 30MWp Ngaoundere solar PV plant, with 20MWh of battery storage, in the Adamaoua region of Cameroon is anticipated by year-end, Orion director Hadrien Clement told African Energy, with construction scheduled to be completed by H1 2022.

A failure to expand capacity of the transmission line connecting Souapiti and Kaléta with Conakry has left large amounts of new generation stranded and Electricité de Guinée making substantial payments to Beijing, but income should eventually start flowing given the expected progress on interconnections that will open up export options, writes David Slater

Nordgold Group has confirmed the 33MW heavy fuel oil (HFO) plant it is building to power its Lefa mine in the Kankan region will be commissioned by end-2021. Covid-19-related restrictions impacted the start of construction, but a modification of the planned project methodology had allowed work to proceed, project manager Brian Nel told African Energy.

Russia’s Nordgold Group has confirmed that the 33MW HFO plant it is building to power its Lefa mine in the Kankan region of Guinea will be commissioned by the end of 2021

The final result could take days more, but leaks from initial counting suggested incumbent president Alpha Condé will win the 18 October election without a need for a second round, having polled far more heavily than his 11 opponents.

German renewables developer CleanPower Generation has signed a financing agreement with Denmark’s Frontier Energy for the development of three on-grid solar PV projects totalling around 82MW.

As he campaigns ahead of a controversial election on 18 October, President Alpha Condé can point to progress in improving services and infrastructure during his second four- year term. Many of Guinea’s estimated 12m-13m population remain mired in poverty; the World Bank put gross domestic product at around only $885 per head in 2018, with over one third of the population surviving on less than $1.90/day.