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The China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and the Ugandan Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 11 May for cooperation on nuclear energy. The MoU was signed in Beijing by CNNC chairman Wang Shoujun and Ugandan minister of energy and mineral development Irene Muloni. A ministry statement said the parties would give priority to cooperation in applying nuclear technology in medicine, agriculture and industry. The government signed a similar MoU with Russia’s Rosatom in June 2017.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has issued a general procurement notice for JCM Greenquest Corporation’s 72MW solar PV power plant in Mbalmayo. The AfDB-managed Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa has approved a grant to fund the development activities remaining to be completed for the project to reach financial close. These include completion of an environmental and social impact assessment, and recruitment of lenders’ legal, technical and financial advisers. Bidding documents are expected this month.

Italy’s Studio Pietrangeli has been awarded a €1.6m ($1.8m) contract to produce a feasibility study and design outline for the Kikonge multipurpose dam, hydropower and irrigation scheme. The contract has been a long time coming, with expressions of interest published in November 2016 and proposals fully opened by May 2018. The work will cover the whole project, including the hydropower plant and high-voltage transmission line.

Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) has signed a contract with GE Power to use its grid control centre software platform. The deal was signed on 24 May but announced on 9 July. GE Power will design, supply, install, test and commission an energy management system at BPC’s headquarters in Gaborone and back-up control centre in Francistown. As well as improving grid efficiency, the new system is intended to help the country operate more effectively within the regional Southern African Power Pool by providing better monitoring and asset management.

The Department of Energy’s Independent Power Producer (IPP) office has been working hard to resolve issues with connecting renewable IPPs to the grid and monitoring their economic development commitments, influential National Treasury senior project adviser Karen Breytenbach told the South African National Energy Association earlier this month. Grid connection is the primary obstacle to closing the projects of preferred bidders from the third round of the renewable energy IPP procurement programme (REIPPP3), and is likely to re-emerge as a problem for REIPPP4.

Is it worth devoting time to understanding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) given that hard-nosed business people so often dismiss the motherhood-and-apple pie aspirations of big global initiatives? The 17 SDGs unveiled by the United Nations last September to replace the partially achieved Millennium Development Goals so far lack detail; the dedicated website (www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment) provides minimal information. However, the non-binding targets should gain substance as national government plans and expert recommendations appear in coming weeks. And the SDGs are emerging as a baseline for harmonising global action, as governments and international institutions work to implement the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP21)’s Paris agreement.

US company Stion is supplying solar modules for a 4MW solar project being developed by Synnove Energy. Stion will supply its Stion Elevation STL 140 and 145 frameless solar modules. US-based Synnove was founded in 2010, and chief executive Fred Sisson was a co-founder of REC Solar and Mainstream Energy. The Central Electricity Board predicts Mauritius will need more than 200MW of new power generation by 2022.

Moscow-based investment bank Renaissance Capital has announced a strong return to form following the credit crunch -

A recent report by the Ministry of Finance indicates that the new Exploration and Production Bill has been submitted to the Attorney General for final comments and will be put to parliament in the near future. The law, whose drafting began in 2010, aims to provide a comprehensive legal framework for the oil and gas industry to replace the 1984 law, creating a new regulator and transforming Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) into a commercial entity. The slow pace of drafting has been criticised because the new regulatory framework comes more than two years after Ghana started to produce oil.

Transocean’s Discoverer India drillship has won a five-well drilling contract with Canadian Natural Resources (CNR). According to Transocean’s fleet status report published on 19 February, the contract starts in April and ends in November 2018. The dayrate was not disclosed. The drillship had been idle since December 2016. CNR’s 2018 budget provides for drilling on the Baobab oil field on Block CI-40.

The Rural Electrification Agency is seeking expressions of interest from consultants for a Grid Rural Electrification Project in western, northern, central and eastern Uganda, funded by the Islamic Development Bank. The consultant will provide project management and construction supervision for the installation of some 1,106km of medium-voltage overhead lines, 678km of low-voltage networks, 673 distribution transformers and 9,772 last-mile consumer connections. Firms must express interest by 22 July. Contact: Head, Procurement & Disposal Unit, Rural Electrification Agency, Plot 10, Windsor Loop, PO Box 7317, Kampala, Uganda. Tel: +256-312-318 100. Email: [email protected]. Web: www.rea.or.ug

Woodside Energy has pulled out of the Lake Tanganyika South Block in western Tanzania. Partner Beach Energy said Woodside had decided not to enter into the next period of the exploration programme. Beach announced in July 2014 that it had agreed to farm out a 70% stake to Woodside, which funded acquisition of 1,333 line km of marine survey over the lake and 107 line km of marine-land transition survey. Beach will remain on the block as operator with 100%.

Burkina Faso is seeking expressions of interest from consultants to assist with the development of national utility Sonabel’s 2016-2020 strategic plan and to carry out an audit of fuel consumption at Sonabel power plants. The World Bank is funding the consultancy, which aims to address the utility’s financial situation and stabilise its operations; improve system efficiency and reduce losses; optimise investment planning; improve client management and carry out a study of the consumer base; reduce non-technical losses; and improve governance.

Angolan opposition leader Isaías Samakuva is highlighting the ruling party’s continued failure to deliver basic services following last year’s elections, the second since the civil war ended a decade ago. Visiting the United States and Europe in late April and early May, he repeatedly warned his interlocutors that they should not be misled by the apparent calm in the country. “Angola is sitting on a powder keg,” the leader of the União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (Unita) told African Energy in an interview, saying that Angolans were urging his party to organise protests against the lack of power, water and health services.

Turkey’s Karpowership announced on 29 December that the 100MW Karadeniz Powership Dogan Bey has arrived in Sierra Leone. The ship will provide 30MW of baseload power for a period of five years, fed into the grid at Kingtom substation in Freetown. Production is expected to start this month.