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Wärtsilä has renewed a long-running operations and maintenance (O&M) deal at QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM), an ilmenite mine in Fort Dauphin which is majority owned by mining supermajor Rio Tinto Group. The extension of the long-running arrangement will see thermal capacity integrated with a new solar, wind, and battery energy storage plant.

French asset manager Mirova has invested $15m in renewable energy company SolarAfrica, to support its commercial and industrial (C&I) projects in South Africa.

The concessional loan from German development bank KfW has enabled the project to expand from70MWp to 100MWp, with Chinese contractors now taking on the EPC work.

Operator Energean and partner Chariot have reported difficulties in the recent drilling campaign on the offshore Anchois gas prospect, although some exploration work is continuing on what is Morocco’s largest uncommercialised gas discovery.

There has been renewed turbulence in South Sudan’s oil and gas sector, with the government stepping in to block a deal for London AIM-listed Savannah Energy to buy upstream assets from Malaysian national oil company Petronas for $1.25bn. It comes as South Sudan tries to resume pipeline exports of Dar Blend crude oil, which have been offline for more than six months.

A small number of floating solar plants are already operating across Africa and over a dozen more are being planned. Advocates say the technology can not only generate power, but also expand the generation capacity of underperforming hydroelectric power reservoirs. As dams age and water becomes scarce, development finance institutions could a play critical role in funding the growth of a still-nascent technology, writes Tonderayi Mukeredzi.

After Zambia’s Energy Regulation Board (ERB) refused to sign-off on a tariff increase, the government said alternative financing will be found to reduce the 20-hour blackouts caused by historically low levels of rainfall. State utility Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (Zesco) is facing a perfect storm, with its own generation output and export sales plummeting and public money in short supply as the government grapples with the impact of the drought and a longstanding debt crisis.

West Africa Energy’s nearly-complete thermal plant at Cap des Biches will bring much-needed baseload capacity to Senelec’s network, supporting further renewable power projects. Meanwhile, the ruling Pastef party has started an audit of energy contracts awarded by the previous regime – with gas-to-power projects included in its scope, writes Waly Dione Faye in Dakar.

Successful Chinese bidders are placing equipment orders for power plants awarded under Sonelagz’s 2GW solar programme. Contracts for 19 plants were signed with eight contractors earlier this year as part of a first phase in a programme to add 15GW of solar capacity by 2035.  

Abdelmadjid Tebboune won a second term as president, with a landslide victory in Algeria’s 7 September election. However, he then joined his two opponents in raising questions about irregularities and the regulator’s handling of the poll.

Malaysian national oil company Petronas is leading a pack of several international contenders eyeing up a potential investment in Senegal's 25tcf offshore Yakaar-Teranga gas development.

The nominally ‘independent candidate’ Abdelmajid Tebboune seems set for a second term when Algerians vote in the 7 September presidential election. He has promised accelerated investment in electricity and other infrastructure, a more responsive business environment and faster delivery of jobs and social services – with big new hydrocarbons deals to pay for it all.

Building on funding commitments from the AfDB, US and EU, work is accelerating on the Angola-DRC-Zambia rail network. The Lobito Corridor’s first phase has already seen faster, cheaper exports of Copperbelt minerals and a feasibility study on a Zambian spur is due. Washington is now mulling support for a potential extension of the corridor to the Indian Ocean, which could compete with Chinese plans to rehabilitate the Tazara link, but might even lead to co-operation with Beijing.

State-owned power utility Eskom has pledged that the power cuts that have dogged South Africa for decades could finally be at an end, as long as unplanned outages can be kept at their current level.

The 155MW Ummbila Emoyeni wind farm in Mpumalanga province is the first phase of a wider 900MW wind and solar PV project that includes an 800MW battery energy storage system (Bess).