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Engineering, procurement and construction contractor Siemens Gamesa has told African Energy that ten of the 60MW Ghoubet wind plant’s 17 SG3.4-132 turbines have been installed; full installation is expected by early October.

Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) is halting support for two solar PV projects after grid impact assessments found that existing infrastructure was insufficient to evacuate power from them.

Trials of leading figures linked to the now disgraced ‘Bouteflika clan’ continue, along with former senior military and civilian officials close to the ousted regime. Prominent among them are the Kouninef brothers, Réda and Tarek, who – like many others held since Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s 2019 removal from the presidency – are in prison but continue to be summoned over other cases proceeding through the justice system.

Dutch development bank FMO has closed a $2.1m follow-on investment in off-grid solar company D.light.

Much of the analysis of Gerd still refers to the project as having 6GW generation capacity. African Energy Live Data’s figure is lower at 4.9GW. The reason for this is simple: the project was derated in 2020, as noted in a report from the Italian main contractor Webuild (formerly Salini Impregilo).

UK-headquartered explorer Impact Oil & Gas announced the completion of a farm-out transaction with Royal Dutch Shell in late August, delivering the Anglo-Dutch supermajor a 50% stake in the Transkei & Algoa blocks offshore South Africa in a process first agreed in November 2020.

Houston-based Vaalco Energy’s Vaalco Gabon affiliate signed a binding letter of intent (LoI) on 25 August with World Carrier Offshore Services Corporation to provide and operate a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit at the Etame Marin field. The arrangement was approved by Vaalco’s partners on 31 August. It is for an initial eight years, with an option to extend. 

Investment fund manager Amethis has sold its 22% minority stake in Burkina Faso’s leading liquid petroleum gas (LPG) bottle distributor, Sodigaz APC, to African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM). Sodigaz claims a market share exceeding 60% and distribution network of 2,200 gas resellers. 

The government is reviewing the $6bn infrastructure-for-minerals deal concluded by then President Joseph Kabila Kabange and Chinese investors, in the context of a broader examination of mining contracts, finance minister Nicolas Kazadi told Reuters on 27 August.

Southern African governments have been slow to recognise the potential of regional power pools to draw investment into their countries. Most have seen the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) through a resource nationalist lens...

A rarity until a few years ago, battery and renewable power plants have more recently outcompeted fossil fuel projects without subsidy in several African markets. The AIX: Financing Battery Storage meeting heard about the extent Bess projects are making headway, despite financiers’ reservations.

TotalEnergies’ latest Strategy and Outlook paper, Building a sustainable multi-energy company, offers a heavily-illustrated, if light-on-detail, glimpse of how the corporate giants formally known as ‘oil majors’ may change in the coming decade. The document, presented at a 28 September shareholders meeting, is strong on TotalEnergies’ plan for “reinvention”, from being a bad old oil major to one with a cleverly constructed – and often very valuable – sustainable energy strategy.

In a 5 October update, the World Bank Group (WBG) said the Comoros Solar Energy Integration Platform project had been cancelled and all financing agreements terminated. The project was approved by the WBG board in June 2020 and a financing agreement was signed by the WBG’s International Development Association (IDA) and the Comoros government in August 2020.

Russia’s Tatneft has resumed exploration activities in partnership with the National Oil Company (NOC), in the light of the improving situation in Libya.

Plans for a radical restructuring of Morocco’s power and water sector is expected to be near the top of the agenda for incoming energy transition and sustainable development minister Leila Benali and new public works and water minister Nizar Baraka. The plans cover both state utility Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau Potable (ONEE) and the regional utilities (régies) and include the creation of 12 new regional companies to tackle chronic debt problems in the sector and allow public services to explore new project financing options.