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The Communauté Electrique du Bénin (CEB) and Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET) are seeking bids for a transmission line between Mango and Dapaong in northern Togo and associated medium and low-tension distribution networks. The project is funded with a $46m loan from the Islamic Development Bank. The aim is to improve supply to northern Togo by extending CEB’s 161kV grid from Dapaong to Mango, interconnecting Dapaong with the CEB network in neighbouring Benin at Porga and improving living conditions for rural communities.

Adding a further layer of complexity to Eskom’s finances is a ruling by High Court judge Cynthia Pretorius on 16 August in a judicial review of the decision by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) on 1 March 2016 to let the utility recoup a regulatory clearing account (RCA) balance of R11.2bn ($781m) through a tariff increase of 9.4% for standard customers in 2016-17. The RCA is a mechanism to reduce the risk of Eskom generating either excessive or inadequate returns as a result of unexpected costs or changes in the macroeconomic environment.

A series of petty disputes involving tribes and militias in western Libya have threatened National Oil Corporation (NOC)’s ambitions to maintain or even increase oil output, which peaked at 1.1m b/d in early August. The challenge facing chairman Mustafa Sanalla is that armed groups who have carried out blockades and actions against oil and gas facilities in recent months are outside the control of any single authority.

Following management changes and an upturn in its financing, Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) was “redefined” as a more commercial and efficient organisation in 2016, the state utility’s chairman and chief executive Mateus Magala told the Africa Energy Forum (AEF) on 7 June. EDM has added 350MW generation capacity in the last two years, according to board member Carlos Youm – and expects to add 950MW in the next five years, providing the government approves further reforms, including cost-reflective tariffs. With the utility on a firmer footing, it will take “two years to establish the new normal”, Magala said.

Total South Africa has signed an agreement to sell LNG produced by South Africa’s Renergen through its service stations. Johannesburg-based Renergen is building South Africa’s first commercial LNG plant, with an expected start-up date in Q3 2021. Announcing the agreement on 18 June, Renergen said the customer base for the LNG will predominantly be logistics companies operating trucks along main routes across South Africa.

The National Water and Electricity Company seeks expressions of interest by 31 October from consultants to develop a strategic masterplan for the electricity sector. The study will assess current and future electricity demand and identify medium- and long-term investments in generation, transmission and distribution to meet forecast national demand and reliability standards. The contract is to be financed by the World Bank under the Electricity Restoration and Modernisation Project.

Kenya has selected Wood Plc to carry out design work for an oil export pipeline from the South Lokichar Basin. Reuters quoted Andrew Kamau, principal secretary at the Petroleum and Mining Ministry, as saying the work would take eight months. The government invited engineering design bids in January for the $2bn pipeline project.

Tullow Oil’s operations in Kenya’s Turkana County continue to be affected by worker unrest. On 10 October, Kenyan media reported that the company was facing limited industrial protests at its Ekosowan well on Block 10BB, although Tullow announced two days later that the issue had been resolved. Turkana County governor Josephat Nanok told African Energy the dispute was caused when oil services provider Ardan Logistics Kenya laid off several workers at the site. “The dispute was regarding contractor Ardan’s staff.

The government of elected President Alpha Condé plans to introduce a package of electricity sector reforms to create a framework for investment that will allow Guinea to harness its estimated 6,000MW hydroelectric potential

The UK’s imminent departure from the European Union (EU) could enable it to negotiate better bilateral trade deals with traditional partners in Africa, according to a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Africa. Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah, who chairs the APPG, told the report launch in London on 28 February that Brexit was an opportunity for the UK to re-evaluate its trading terms with African countries.

Alten Africa, a subsidiary of Spanish developer Alten Energias Renovables, announced on 13 December that it has contracted France’s Voltalia to carry out engineering, procurement and construction and operation and maintenance services for the 40MWac Kesses 1 solar photovoltaic plant near Eldoret in western Kenya.

Ophir Energy spudded the first well in its 2012 Block R drilling programme on 2 July.

Oil services company Weatherford International said on 4 November that it hoped to finalise a settlement for some $250m with the US government for violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Iraq oil-for-food programme, and trading with sanctioned countries. The sanction settlement alone is expected to cost $100m, and Weatherford is awaiting approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Weatherford first disclosed an overseas bribery investigation in 2007. The investigation later expanded to include potential violations of the Iraq oil-for-food programme and possible illegal trade with Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria.

Zimbabwe utility Zesa Holding is sticking to its power-exporting arrangement with NamPower, the Namibian parastatal has told African Energy.

The International Energy Agency (IEA)’s World Energy Investment 2016 report, launched in London on 14 September, “shows the electricity sector leading a broad reorientation of energy investment”, as upstream oil and gas investment has slumped. The Paris-based agency’s data show investment in renewable energy accelerating at an impressive rate, although Africa’s performance remains patchy, even in industry leaders like Morocco and South Africa. Despite the global upturn in renewable energy, the IEA warned that “more is needed to meet climate targets and address energy security concerns”.