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US developer Symbion Power Tanzania Ltd on 13 March filed a request for arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris claiming breach of contract due to non-payment by Tanzania Electricity Supply Corporation (Tanesco) for power from the 126MW Ubungo plant (AE 331/1). Symbion says Tanesco has refused to pay for its power since the contract was agreed, claiming variously that the power purchase agreement (PPA) had been “put on hold”, never been signed or, later, that it had been rescinded.

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative will hold its fourth international conference in Doha on 16-18 February 2009.

An Italian court will try six defendants in December on charges related to Saipem’s payment of €198m in bribes to secure approximately €8bn worth of contacts in Algeria. The most significant among the accused is the alleged go-between in the affair, Farid Bedjaoui, for whom Interpol has issued a red notice saying that he is wanted for “criminal associations leading to corruption”. He will be tried in absentia with two other Algerians. Three Italian senior Saipem executives will be in the dock, but the company’s country manager at the time will not, as he has struck a deal with prosecutors.

National Oil Corporation’s policy of opening its downstream to private investors is bearing fruit in the petrochemicals sector, where Norwegian fertiliser giant Yara International in February confirmed a joint venture with NOC and Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) to upgrade the Marsa Al-Brega urea and ammonia plant.

The World Bank Group-administered Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP) is inviting expressions of interest from consultants to carry out a national multi-tier framework energy access household survey in Burkina Faso. ESMAP is supporting energy access surveys to establish a baseline to track progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 7, which covers access to an affordable, reliable and sustainable modern energy supply.

EGYPT: Ain El Sokhna tender; MOZAMBIQUE: German solar firm in rural electrification project; MOROCCO: International Power, Nareva to build wind farm

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed a construction and operation agreement with the government of Benin on 5 August for a crude oil pipeline from Agadem in Niger to Sèmè port in Benin. “The more than 1,900km pipeline, including 687km in Benin, is the largest cross-border crude pipeline invested by CNPC in Africa,” the company said.CNPC built a refinery at Zinder in 2011 to process crude from its Agadem fields but has been seeking to develop an export route so it can increase production.

In a move to broaden the scope of energy efficiency efforts, Moroccan state energy investor Société d’Investissements Energetiques (SIE) has called for the supply, installation, operation and maintenance of sustainable energy units to reduce consumption and costs in a pilot group of 64 mosques, out of the 15,000 official mosques nationwide. SIE’s other energy efficiency schemes are focused on urban lighting. Bids for the mosque pilot project are due by 3 October. SIE is backing a number of smaller solar schemes across the kingdom, managing director Ahmed Baroudi said following an early September board meeting.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has invited expressions of interest by 15 October from consultancy firms to carry out a comparison of electricity tariffs in member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas). The survey is being carried out by the Ecowas Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority with support from the AfDB and is intended to serve as a standard framework for annual assessment of tariffs in Ecowas states.

The safest pair of hands in the Nigerian oil industry, Rilwanu Lukman, has finally stepped down from his formal industry role as chairman of fast-rising, AIM-listed independent Afren

In a significant sign of international support for the transitional government, the World Bank has approved a $240m loan for additional financing of the Giza North power project; Spain’s Gamesa has signed a contract with the New & Renewable Energy Authority to deliver 200MW of turbines to a wind energy projects in the Gulf of El Zayt on Egypt’s Red Sea coast

Kleinschmidt Associates has been awarded a contract funded by the US Trade and Development Agency to carry out feasibility studies for the Chilongo and Chimpili hydropower projects. Chilongo is being developed by MPF Development Consultants at Chilongo Falls on the Lufubu River in Kawambwa district, Luapula province. Chimpili is being developed by Bukota Company on the Kalugwishi River in the same district.

Itezhi-Tezhi Power Corporation (ITPC) has issued a tender for construction of the 120MW Itezhi-Tezhi hydropower project on the Kafue river. Bids from prequalified contractors for the project’s design, supply and construction are due by 2 May.

Hydrocarbons minister Aimé Ngoy Mukena held talks on 30 November with Zhenghwei Technique Corporation managing director Tu Da Jun on a project for a new ministry building in Kinshasa and a proposed 100km products pipeline from the Zambian border to Lubumbashi.The Lubumbashi-Kasumbalesa pipeline would aim to cut transport costs by two thirds compared to tanker trucks, and to link up with other pipeline projects.

Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET) has invited bids by 31 January for the rehabilitation of the 1.6MW Kpimé hydropower plant in the south-western Plateaux region. The plant, near Kpalimé, about 120km from the capital Lomé, comprises two 0.8MW units, and is the only hydropower plant owned and operated by CEET. The rehabilitation work, to be financed by CEET from its own funds, is expected to be completed within 16 weeks of contract signing, according to a tender notice published on 24 December.