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Minerals, energy and water resources minister Onkokame Kitso Mokaila has sought to clarify the tender for the rehabilitation of the 132MW Morupule A coal power plant following accusations of impropriety. The local Sunday Standard accused the ministry of negotiating with South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction over the contract while the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) tender process was still running. Speaking in parliament, Mokaila denied running a parallel process, saying the ministry allowed Doosan to inspect the plant while the BPC tender process was ongoing but that the bid was received after the process was completed. He said BPC and owner’s engineer Lahmeyer International were currently evaluating Doosan’s bid.

GABON: Grand Poubara dam start-up. China’s Sinohydro has brought on stream the Grand Poubara hydro plant on the Ogooué River. The dam has an installed capacity of 160MW, from four 40MW turbines. The project also includes two transmission lines, one to Franceville, Gabon’s third largest city, 15km from the project site, the other to the manganese mining region of Moanda. A second phase is planned to increase capacity to 280MW. Two other hydro projects are under construction, Chutes de l’Impératrice on the Ogooué River, and Fe2 on the Okano River (AE 245/1). 
 


A ground-breaking ceremony took place on 3 December marking the start of construction for the 60MWac Salima solar project being developed by JCM Power. “We will now work to prepare the ground, ready to install 230,000 solar panels after the rainy season and anticipate that Salima Solar will be delivering power to the grid by the end of 2019,” said JCM country director Phylip Leferink.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Namibia Power Corporation (NamPower)’s long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at BBB- and short-term IDR at F3 as the utility braces itself for a period of power shortages.

Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo plans to seek bids for the electrification of 69 rural communities. The project has received $11m of funding from the Islamic Development Bank, and only companies from member countries are eligible to bid. The contract will involve the engineering, supply and installation of electrical equipment, and the supervision of works. Lot 1, for a power network in the Kara and Savane regions, comprises construction of 251km of 20-33kV lines and 67km of low-tension lines and street lighting, as well as posts, connection equipment and prepayment meters.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (Sefa) – a $57m bilateral trust fund managed by the AfDB and funded by the Danish government – approved $7.5m of grant and concessional finance on 8 July for a geothermal project in the Lake Assal region. The finance is part of an AfDB strategy to mitigate the high risks associated with geothermal exploration. The project will be structured as a public-private partnership, in which the government of Djibouti will be taking the lead on the $32m first phase of exploration and appraisal drilling.

The Rural Energy Agency (REA) invites expressions of interest by 11 May from consultants to assist with the establishment of the Renewable Energy Investment Facility (REIF). The consultancy services will be financed with a grant from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, administrated by the African Development Bank.

Wind and solar developer Mainstream Renewable Power has launched Mainstream Renewable Capital to raise capital for Mainstream’s existing project pipeline and future growth opportunities. The Irish company has appointed banker James McGinnis as chief executive officer of the new financing and investments arm. Mainstream has a portfolio of 9GW of projects at various stages of development including projects in South Africa, and recently announced plans to build 2GW of wind generation plants across Chile and Vietnam.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy is seeking expressions of interest from private contractors for the development of a 100MW heavy fuel oil plant in Ouagadougou. The plant will be developed on a build-own-operate-transfer basis, and the contractor will also be expected to provide loan finance for the project and connect the plant to the grid. A past scheme for a 30MW private diesel plant was considered by the Aga Khan’s Industrial Promotion Services but failed to attract investment partners due to weak payment flows. Bids are due by 16 September.

The prospects of more power from the Inga dam complex offer hope for Congolese and regional consumers, but these are not short-term developments – and meanwhile the struggle continues to overhaul utility Snel

Berkeley Energy, as manager of the Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF), is seeking expressions of interest from consultants to carry out a prefeasibility study for potential hydropower projects on the Pra River. AREF is a $200m fund backed by the African Development Bank to invest in development-stage renewable energy projects. The study is expected to examine up to six potential sites, from which two will be prioritised for the subsequent phase. Expressions of interest are due by 14 June.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) board on 24 July approved a €50m ($66m) loan for the expansion of the Compagnie Ivoirienne de Production d’Electricité (Ciprel) plant at Vridi (AE 224/7). The project, which has been on the cards for more than 18 months, will expand the existing 321MW power plant to 543MW. The Ciprel plant, owned by France’s Bouygues, consists of three 33MW General Electric (GE) MS6001 B-type gas turbines commissioned in 1995, one 111MW GE MS 9001 E-type gas turbine commissioned in 1997 and one 111MW PG 9171 E-type gas turbine commissioned in 2009.

On 31 October, the government and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) signed a $23m loan agreement for the construction of a new substation in Hoima, the extension of the Nkenda substation, and new terminal points and interfaces at the Fort Portal substation. The work is part of a larger project to better connect Hoima and Nkenda, improve supply and reduce losses in western Uganda. Norway is cofinancing the project by supporting power generation from mini-hydro plants, and the AFD will also finance a rural electrification programme in the Hoima-Nkenda region.

A consortium led by GE Renewable Energy with Spain’s Elecnor has been awarded a contract worth a combined $157m for the supply, installation and commissioning of the electro-mechanical equipment for the 420MW Nachtigal hydropower plant on the Sanaga River. GE Renewable Energy announced on 26 February that it would supply seven 60MW Francis turbines under a contract worth $87m, while the US-based engineering group’s hydro division would be responsible for the coordination of the project, including the design, manufacturing, erection supervision and commissioning of the turbines and generators, the control system and the mechanical balance of plant.

Angola has published an action plan for the energy and water sectors covering the period 2018-2022. The plan aims to raise total installed capacity to 7.5GW in 2022 from 6.4GW in 2018 by expanding the role of gas and renewables, mainly solar. Tariff increases are planned in the new year in an attempt to eliminate subsidies for the power sector. Speaking at an investor roundtable in London on 14 December, energy minister João Baptista Borges said domestic tariffs would rise to around 10 kwanza ($0.03)/kWh from 3 kwanza/kWh at present.