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Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has decided against lowering Eskom’s BBB- credit rating for the time being, but remains concerned about risks associated with the government rescue programme and the increasing costs and tight generation margin in the South African power sector. The ratings agency said the government support plan would “support Eskom’s liquidity and stabilise its credit metrics over the near term”. However, S&P’s base case assumes an annual tariff increase of 12% until 2018, which would be unpalatable to many South African consumers and lobby groups.

The Swedish and Ugandan governments signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 19 June to enhance cooperation and promote trade in the energy sector between the two countries. The MoU will give Ugandan energy utilities access to capacity building and technical support from their Swedish counterparts and promote provision of Swedish solutions to Ugandan utilities backed by Swedish financing via Swedish export credit agencies EKN and SEK.

Mini-grid developer PowerGen Renewable Energy has completed a series B investment round, almost three years after its first round. Investors include Shell New Energies, Omidyar Network, Acumen, the Renewable Energy Performance Platform, EDFI ElectriFI, Sumitomo Corporation, DOB Equity, and Micro-Grid Catalytic Capital Partners.

Eskom Holdings has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for the proposed conversion of the existing open-cycle gas turbines at the Ankerlig and Gourikwa peaking power stations in Western Cape Province to combined-cycle operation. The 1,327MW Ankerlig power station at Atlantis near Cape Town and the 740MW Gourikwa power station at Mossel Bay near the PetroSA refinery are currently operating on diesel fuel.

Tunis-based power engineering group Tragedel has contracted UK-based Clarke Energy to supply four 2.5MW heavy-duty diesel generators for a 10MW plant in Bangui. The four Kohler-SDMO KD3500-F gensets will provide baseload or peaking power to Energie Centrafricaine, Clarke Energy said on 29 November.

The West African Development Bank (Boad) and Senelec have signed a CFA25bn ($40m) loan agreement for the partial funding of electric power distribution grid strengthening and redevelopment in the Dakar, Thiès, Kaolack, Fatick, Saint-Louis and Tambacounda areas. The loan represents 82.3% of the total project cost and will improve power supply through power distribution grid automation, removal of radial lines and power grid strengthening.

Luxembourg-based Eurasian Resources Group has concluded power supply arrangements for its Frontier copper mine on the border between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Eurasian announced on 26 November that a contract had been signed with Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel), DRC commercial bank Rawbank and Zambia’s Zesco, which will supply 41MW. Frontier is an open-cast mine with facilities to produce copper sulphide concentrate, treating over 10m t/yr of copper sulphide ore.

UK-based BBOXX has secured a $4m local currency loan from government-owned Union Togolaise de Banque (UTB) to fund the first phase of the company’s activities in Togo. The Togolese government aims to increase access to electricity from 36% in 2016 to 60% in 2022 under its Accelerated Growth and Employment Strategy. In rural areas, a government study identified 300,000 households that cannot economically be connected to the grid but which are suitable for solar home systems.

Demonstrations that began in mid-October against the rising cost of electricity have gained momentum in Tangier, where several thousand protesters gathered in the northern coastal city’s Place des Nations. Although Tangier mayor Bachir Abdellaoui has promised that bills issued since July will be “revised” and that there will be no more abrupt price rises, there seems little sign of protests ending. Some 1.5m bills issued since the summer need revision; meanwhile, default notices have been suspended. Protesters’ main chant is ‘Amendis dégage’ (Amendis out), a reference to the Veolia Environnement subsidiary that runs electricity, water and sewerage services in the Tangier-Tetouan area.

Power distributor Umeme plans a minority listing of its shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange and Nairobi Securities Exchange this year, subject to approval from market regulators. The company is 100% owned by emerging markets private equity firm Actis. Reuters said some 20% was expected to be floated

Rwanda’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on 18 May announced that it had signed a bilateral agreement with the German government for German development bank KfW to provide a €15m grant for the 147MW Ruzizi III hydropower project. The $650m project is being developed by the Agha Khan’s Industrial Promotion Services and US developer Sithe Global, under a contract awarded in 2014, and will supply Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda with 49MW each.

Energy minister Dikobe Ben Martins and the Department of Energy (DoE) announced earlier this month that the procurement process for 2,500MW of coal-fired independent power producers (IPPs) will begin in May, while an 800MW cogeneration IPP procurement programme will begin this month. Speaking on 14 April, Martins said that an announcement on the nuclear procurement programme would be made within two months and that additional renewable energy projects would be procured under the third round of the renewable energy IPP procurement programme (REIPPP).

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has approved a $1m grant to fund feasibility studies for two 17MW solar photovoltaic plants near Pá and Kodéni. The plants are being developed by Denham Capital’s BioTherm Energy and its partner French firm Canopy, via a project company called Société de Production d’Energie Solaire de Kodéni. The studies will be carried out by United States’ Tetra Tech. The projects will sell power to state utility Sonabel under a 25-year power purchase agreement.

Electricity Development Corporation (EDC) invites expressions of interest from consultants by 7 June to carry out a study for the development of the hydropower potential of the Sanaga River Basin.

The Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy has signed six memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with Chinese companies on industrial and energy projects as part of government plans to diversify the economy and reduce dependence on oil. The agreements were signed on April 30 at an economic forum in Dalian, following a state visit to Beijing by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. China Dalian International Co-operation Group (CDIG) signed an agreement to carry out studies for the development of the Industrial City of Mbini. CDIG will undertake preliminary technical studies and will promote the Industrial City of Mbini to international investors.