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According to a presentation of Egyptian Electricity Holding Company’s financial results delivered by its chairman Jaber El-Desouki on 10 May in Cairo, approximately 2GW of extra capacity is expected to be commissioned before the end of 2019, taking total installed capacity to 57,424MW. This official calculation confirms the projected oversupply of power described in analyses of the pipeline from African Energy Live Data published in October and December last year.

The Abuja government has given a green light for construction of the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) connecting Nigeria, Morocco and at least 11 countries in between.

Egypt’s role in brokering the 21 May ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has refocused attention on the two countries’ energy relations. It showed Cairo enjoying renewed relevance in both Washington and Tel Aviv, and potentially seeking to capitalise through commercial side-benefits.

Lekela Power has formally inaugurated the commercial operation of its 250MW West Bakr wind  farm in the Gulf of Suez, which operates turbines installed by Siemens Gamesa.

With North Africa in turmoil, the attention of many international oil companies (IOCs) has swung towards the Eastern Mediterranean – an area not unknown for intractable political conflict and instability.

Turkey – the largest market for gas in the region with almost no maritime territory of its own under international law – is pushing ahead with its own East Mediterranean exploration programme in defiance of its neighbours. Intractable as this disagreement has become, it is matched by a separate commercial problem. These abundant resources have become too expensive to justify exploitation under current conditions. The countries and companies that currently hold title to the gas will not only have to deal with Ankara but must also find ways of producing it much more cheaply to find a market.

Among Russia’s portfolio of interests in Africa – which include a large military sales business and nuclear development ambitions – state-owned entities such as Gazprom, Gazpromneft and Rosneft have built up hydrocarbons industry interests in markets around the continent, from Algeria in the north to Nigeria, and Angola and Mozambique south of the Sahara.  African Energy examines Russia's investments in Africa's upstream sector and its possible strategic objectives.

World leaders failed to secure a binding global treaty on reducing carbon emissions at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen – not least due to opposition from a radical group including Venezuela and Sudan, as well as differences between global giants led by the United States and China. Leaders did secure a deal to limit

Scarcely a month passes without an announcement that another large-scale power project has passed a milestone towards commissioning or financial close. The government has harnessed multilateral support for its own schemes and taken important steps towards creating a more commercial environment, including the reduction of some subsidies and the introduction of legislation to restructure the sector.

Progress has been made towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 7 of providing universal energy access by 2030, with €108bn in funding in 2014-19, but international partners will need to do much more if the target is to be reached, according to a new Africa-EU Energy Partnership report by African Energy’s parent company CbI, writes David Slater

Global markets may be recovering, but the continent is behind the curve and analysis of the 6,700-plus generation projects contained in the African Energy Live Data platform shows the trend continues.

As Europe looks for alternative sources of natural gas to replace its current dependence on Russia, Italy may be best placed to gain additional export volumes from Algeria thanks largely to Eni’s historic commitment to the country. The depth of this relationship is again being  demonstrated as chief executive Claudio Descalzi shepherds through the deal to take over BP’s stakes in the strategically important In Amenas and In Salah gas projects. Lacking a similar depth of commitment, the UK-based major is pulling back perhaps a a consequence of the of the 2013 Jihadist attack on the Tiguentourine complex at In Amenas.  Read  African Energy analysis of Algiers’ response to Europe’s energy crisis.

European leaders are confronting the urgent need to diversify energy supplies away from Russia, while also somehow keeping to their commitments to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, that they made – indeed pioneered – at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, just four months ago.  African Energy examines the options and projects under discussion including gas and electricity imports and hydrogen prospects.

State utility Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has invited local and international consultants to conduct a feasibility study for green hydrogen (GH2), ammonia and fertiliser production.

Quantum Power on 4 March signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Micoperi, part of Protan Group, for the Tema liquefied natural gas (LNG) import, storage, regasification and delivery scheme. The project has the ambitious aim of being operational by year-end, providing enough gas to generate 2,000MW. Quantum Power signed heads of terms for the construction and operation of the project with Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) in February. The LNG project is the latest to announce progress, with Ghana 1000 and the West African Gas Ltd (WAGL) Tema schemes also taking shape.