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The 120MW Maria Gléta 2 power plant was formally inaugurated on 15 March. Developed by Danish power plant specialist Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor in consortium with MAN Diesel and Turbo (MDT), the dual fuel HFO and gas-fired power plant is located at the Maria Gléta site, about 15km from the city of Cotonou. The turnkey power plant project involved construction of a new power house at the Maria Gléta site, with seven MDT dual fuel engines and related infrastructure.

United Oil & Gas Plc has signed an option agreement with Elephant Oil to farm in to onshore Block B in the Dahomey Embayment, potentially taking a 20% interest in the production-sharing agreement. United has agreed to fund passive seismic and field studies up to a value of $175,000. Completion of the passive seismic programme is being targeted for April. If United chooses to exercise the option, then the company will farm in taking a 20% interest and will fund 30% of the non-drilling and 20% of the drilling costs in the Phase 1 work programme, as well as reimbursing back costs.

Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique has released a general procurement notice for a project to restructure and extend the distribution system. The project is being funded by the African Development Bank and tendering is expected to begin in December.

The Moroccan subsidiary of Jacobs Engineering SA has been awarded a US-funded contract to build four solar photovoltaic plants with a combined installed capacity of 46MW (equal to 20% of peak demand), transmission lines, substations and a dispatch centre, the Casablanca daily L’Economiste reported. Jacobs is carrying out the work under the US Millennium Challenge Corporation’s $403m Millennium Challenge Account-Benin II 2017-2022 (MCA-Benin).After years of power shortages, the government is focusing on increasing domestic generation capacity with the aim of ending imports by 2021.

The Benin parliament on 13 April ratified an amendment to the Benin-Togo Electricity Law, opening the power sector to private sector investment. The change repeals the law which in July 1968 established the Communauté Electrique du Bénin (CEB) as the sole offtaker of electricity between the two states. Private companies will now be able to sell and purchase electricity in either country without the CEB’s involvement.

Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique (SBEE) expects to invite prequalification applications for the design, supply and installation of a 25MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) park at Illoulofin in the commune of Pobé in southern Benin by May 2018. The contract also requires assistance with the operation and maintenance of the project for a period of three years and training of SBEE staff.

The General Secretariat of the West African Power Pool (WAPP) is seeking an engineering consultancy to manage and supervise the construction of the 330kV Nigeria-Niger-Benin/Togo-Burkina Faso North Core project, as well as a project director to act as head of the Implementation Management Unit (IMU). Expressions of interest for the consultancy are invited by 10 April, while applications for the project director job are due by 2 May.

The Off-Grid Clean Energy Facility (OCEF) invites proposals by 22 May from private companies, NGOs, communities and other entities to demonstrate viable off-grid, clean energy solutions. The Millennium Challenge Account-Benin (MCA-Benin II) will provide funding totalling $12m for the successful projects. MCA-Benin II was created to implement the programme of a second grant agreement (compact) signed by the Millennium Challenge Corporation, acting on behalf of the US government, in September 2015.

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD), acting on behalf of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, has invited expressions of interest by 19 February from consultants to carry out studies for the construction of a 25MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) plant at Illoulofin, in Pobé municipality. The consultant will be required to prepare an environmental and social impact study, an environmental and social management plan and a resettlement and compensation action plan for the Defissol project.

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the European Union (EU) have agreed to co-finance Benin’s first large-scale solar photovoltaic power project. A financing agreement totalling CFA39.4bn ($70.7m) was signed on 7 December by Benin’s economy and finance minister, Romuald Wadagni, and local representatives of the AFD and the EU to cover the cost of the 25MW Defissol project in the municipality of Pobé in southern Benin. The AFD will provide financing totalling CFA32.8bn while the EU will provide an additional CFA6.6bn, according to a statement from the French embassy in Benin.

The Communauté Electrique du Bénin, the power producer and grid operator serving Benin and Togo, invites prequalification applications by 16 January for the rehabilitation of the 65.6MW Nangbeto hydropower plant on the Mono River, which forms the border between the two states.

The government signed a contract with a consortium of BWSC and MAN Diesel & Turbo on 27 September for a 120MW thermal power plant at Maria Gléta. Construction is expected to take 18 months. The CFA106.88bn ($192m) project is being financed by the Islamic Development Bank, the West African Development Bank and the Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development.

Preparations have reached an advanced stage for the issue of a tender for a floating gas supply facility in Cotonou port. The floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) should supply sufficient gas to generate 500MW of generation capacity, Ministry of Energy official Flinso Todéman Assan told the Power and Electricity World Africa conference in Johannesburg on 28 March. “This current government has decided to go ahead with this from the president down… tenders will be issued very soon,” Assan said.

Fast-track power company APR Energy has announced a year-long contract with the Ministry of Energy, Water and Mines to provide a 50MW gas power plant at Maria Gléta. The project will use dual fuel aeroderivative turbines fuelled using diesel or natural gas when available and is expected online in December. “Benin currently imports a significant portion of its electricity from neighbouring Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, and this project will allow Benin to grow its economy using domestically produced power,” APR Energy chairman and chief executive John Campion said.

Aggreko announced on 5 September it had won a one-year contract to supply 100MW of power at the Maria Gléta site. The power will be generated from Addgas, a technology that substitutes a significant portion of diesel fuel with natural gas. An Aggreko spokeswoman told African Energy its existing 50MW of capacity would be upgraded to Addgas and an additional 50MW with the Addgas option would be added, making 100MW in total. “This will offer a more flexible, cheaper kWh,” she said.