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The authorities have overruled a complaint by MAN Diesel and given the Kipevu III contract to low bidder Wärtsilä, paving the way for 120MW of additional power to come on stream by end-2010, writes Kimemia Mugo

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has found itself caught in a Catch-22 situation. Ordered by the government to build up major stockpiles of gasoline ahead of the holiday season and February’s elections, it knows its accelerated imports will stoke the illicit trade in informal exports. Smugglers fill large jerry cans at service stations near border posts and load up their mopeds, motorbikes and cars to cross into countries where they can sell the product at higher prices.

Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos de Mocambique (ENH) and Brazilian steel giant Vale signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Maputo on 10 December which paves the way for coalbed methane exploration in the Moatize coal fields in Tete province

After making rapid progress in electrification in recent years, Burkina Faso has set itself another ambitious access target. Energy and mines minister Salif Kaboré told Francois Misser how he plans to meet the challenge

South African-based small hydro developer NuPlanet has started construction of a third run-of-river scheme and is looking to expand internationally. Managing director Anton-Louis Olivier told African Energy in an interview that construction of the 4.5MW Stortemelk plant on the Ash River, near Clarens in Free State, began in October after the developer reached financial close in September. The R186m ($18m) project is funded on a 30-70% debt-to-equity ratio with debt from Rand Merchant Bank and equity financing from parent company Renewable Energy Holdings, jointly owned by Olivier and the Mertech Group.

With the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (Pida) framework endorsed by African leaders in 2012 returning the development focus to big dams, there is an increasing amount of research into how climate change may affect future water supply. Pida includes a Priority Action Plan which calls for an expansion of hydroelectric power generation capacity by more than 54GW. The listed priority projects, currently being designed on the basis of the historical climate, will jump to the head of the queue for donor funds and government approvals.

India’s Essar Energy Overseas has agreed to buy a 50% stake in Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd (KPRL) from Shell Petroleum, Chevron Global and BP Africa. The government holds the other 50% equity in the 4m t/yr Mombasa refinery. The shareholders had been looking to sell up because they were reluctant to finance a planned upgrade.

The trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) of Kenyan deputy president William Ruto was adjourned for a week on 23 September after Ruto asked for a suspension to enable him to return to Nairobi to handle the aftermath of an attack on the city’s Westgate shopping mall. Ruto went on trial on 10 September along with radio presenter Joshua arap Sang, charged with crimes against humanity in relation to their alleged role in co-ordinating the violence that swept Kenya in the aftermath of the country’s contested 2007 elections.

CONGO-B: Marine XI farm-out brings in Vietnamese; MAURITANIA: Khop well spuds; TUNISIA: Vietnamese take two blocks; TUNISIA: DualEx enters with Bouhajla stake

The government on 6 June signed an agreement with a Chinese consortium to build the 240MW Busanga hydro scheme. The dam will be built on the Upper Congo River in Katanga province, downstream from two existing hydro plants, primarily to supply Société Sino-Congolaise des Mines (Sicomines). Moïse Ekanga, director of the China-DRC cooperation office, said construction was expected to take five years. The Sicomines joint venture and the Busanga hydro scheme are part of a cooperation agreement signed with Beijing in 2007.

The 300MW Tarfaya wind farm has begun generating electricity and will be fully operational in October. The plant is being developed by GDF Suez, in partnership with Morocco’s Nareva Holding, at a site on the southern Atlantic coast. GDF Suez won the contract to construct the project on a build-own-operate-transfer basis in February 2013 (AE 248/8). The wind farm consists of 131 80-metre turbines. As part of efforts to secure its energy supplies and meet rising demand, Morocco aims to generate 2GW from wind and 2GW from solar by 2020, representing almost half the country’s total generation capacity.

Addax Petroleum has farmed into the shallow water OPL 227 in the western Niger Delta, taking 40%. The other partners are two Nigerian companies, Express Petroleum & Gas Company Ltd (which retains 39%) and Petroleum Prospects International Ltd (21%). Express remains the operator but Addax Petroleum has taken the position of technical advisor.

Supply/Demand. Tanzania is in urgent need of new generating capacity. Demand is growing at 10-15%/yr and generation suffers from drought.

Impact Oil & Gas Limited has secured $40m via an open offer at 20p/share. The proceeds will be used to fund Impact’s share of costs for Total’s Venus-1 well offshore Namibia later in H1, and black economic empowerment company Arostyle Investments’ share of costs for the drilling of the Luiperd-1 exploration well offshore South Africa in Q2. Impact’s funding of Arostyle, agreed in December 2018, gives it exposure to Block 11B/12B, where Total announced the Brulpadda discovery in 2019.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) officially launched a public consultation process on 18 March for new procurement via the Section 34 Ministerial Determination. If Nersa gives its approval, the ministerial determination will allow procurement of new capacity set out in the country’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). However, disruption caused by the coronavirus – a three-week lockdown has been ordered from 26 March – is likely to delay the process, which was already expected to last three months for the emergency procurement and six months for the rest. Nersa has asked its staff to work from home.