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Société Nationale de l’Electricité (Sonabel) is calling for more support from government and greater flexibility from donors as it seeks to overcome growing supply and financial deficits. Officials at an early April workshop organised by regulator Autorité de Régulation du Sous-secteur de l’Electricité (Arse), said they had yet to reapply for tariff increases, which Sonabel has argued are essential from all classes of consumer to help make the utility and projects more credit-worthy. However, the weekly L’Economiste du Faso reported on 20 April that the regulator was examining calls for a new subsidy mechanism to support the cash-strapped utility.

The European Investment Bank has agreed to provide E23m ($31m) of financing for the 30MW Zagtouli solar photovoltaic scheme. The 20-year loan to the total E70.5m project being developed by Sonabel on the outskirts of Ouagadougou is in addition to E25m of funding from the European Union and support from the Agence Française de Développement.

The African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa has approved a $950,000 grant for the development of the 20MW Windiga solar power plant. The project preparation grant will support the remaining advisory activities needed for the project to reach financial close, including support for the structuring of a 25-year power purchase agreement with state utility Sonabel, the bank said.The project is being developed by Canada’s Windiga Energy in the Boucle du Mouhoun area in the west of the country.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy is seeking expressions of interest from private contractors for the development of a 100MW heavy fuel oil plant in Ouagadougou. The plant will be developed on a build-own-operate-transfer basis, and the contractor will also be expected to provide loan finance for the project and connect the plant to the grid. A past scheme for a 30MW private diesel plant was considered by the Aga Khan’s Industrial Promotion Services but failed to attract investment partners due to weak payment flows. Bids are due by 16 September.

The board of the World Bank has approved a $27m grant and an $8m loan as additional finance for the electricity sector support project (ESSP). The government will provide $2m. The funding will beef up the initial $52.9m project, which became effective in February 2014, aiming to provide wide-ranging support for generation, electrification, energy efficiency and institutional capacity. Two components are being targeted for further support. The first ESSP set aside $25m to expand the grid to 40 unconnected communities using 33kV transmission lines and the existing 34.5kV Bobo-Dioulasso-Ouagadougou line.

State utility Société Nationale d’Electricité (Sonabel) has appointed a new director-general, Jean Christophe Ilboudo, who replaces Apollinaire Siengui Ki. The weekly L’Economiste du Faso reported that Ilboudo was a management specialist who had been working within government at permanent secretary level and is also an adviser to the mayor of Ouagadougou.

Boukary Jean Baptiste de la Salle Béréhoundougou has been named director-general of Société Nationale d‘Hydrocarbures (Sonabhy). Béréhoundougou, until now the inspector of customs, replaces Paul Marie Compaoré, who was formally retired following a difficult period for the state hydrocarbons import, stockage and distribution company. Hilaire Kaboré had been acting as interim director-general. Sonabhy reported CFA9.85bn ($20m) net profit in 2013 on a turnover of CFA528.4bn.

Canadian renewable power developer Windiga Energy has signed an investment support agreement with the government of Burkina Faso for a 20MW solar photovoltaic power plant. Commercial operation is expected by the end of next year, with the equity portion of the project likely to close in the coming months – it will be 95% owned by Windiga and 5% by the government for the 25-year amortisation period before being transferred wholly to the government – while debt financing should be completed around November with the African Development Bank, the Global Environment Facility and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund.

Niger is relaunching the Kandadji hydro scheme with the help of the World Bank and making progress on a coal-fired plant. Mining schemes are leading private sector involvement in Burkina Faso, while projects in Benin and Togo suffer from a lack of Nigerian gas and the high cost of fuel imports.

Amid rising social tensions and opposition to President Blaise Compaoré’s plans to stand for another term as president, public accounts court senior judge Noumoutié Herbert Traoré has promised that judgements on three long-running cases will soon be issued. The three cases include allegations of false accounting by state energy company Société Nationale Burkinabé d’Hydrocarbures (Sonabhy). The case against Sonabhy includes false accounting to gain tax breaks and contracts awarded by direct negotiation without prior board approval. Traoré formally delivered the 2012 report on management of public finances from the Cour des Comptes to Compaoré in December 2013.

The European Investment Bank is considering a €23m ($31m) loan to the Société Nationale d’Electricité du Burkina (Sonabel) for the construction of a 30MW photovoltaic solar plant at Zagtouli, in the outskirts of Ouagadougou (AE 230/9). This amount represents about one third of the total cost of the project which is also financed by a €25m grant from the European Commission announced last April in Brussels after a meeting between minister of mines and energy and former Sonabel CEO Salif Kaboré, and EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs. The Agence Française de Développement is contributing a concessional loan of €19m. According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, construction work should begin in 2014 and the plant should be operational by 2015.

The European Union has signed an agreement to provide €25m ($33m) in financing to a solar photovoltaic power plant at Zagtouli, on the outskirts of Ouagadougou. Only 15% of the Burkinabè population have access to electricity and the country depends heavily on energy imports. The new power plant will comprise 96,000 solar panels with a capacity of 22-33MW and will start construction at year-end.

With tougher anti-bribery legislation in place in the US and UK, local partners have been identified as a key vulnerability. Foreign companies need them to help them navigate the local business environment, especially if it is government policy to develop local content.

The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) has signed an agreement with Norway’s Scatec Solar to develop solar projects in West and Central Africa.

Shares in temporary power solutions company APR Energy continue to trade at more than 25% below their March peak, although the London Stock Exchange (LSE)-listed firm has released some positive figures and deal flow data.