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US conglomerate GE has announced plans to develop a 100MW wind farm in Ngong, 20km south-west of Nairobi. GE chairman and chief executive Jeffrey Immelt told reporters in Nairobi that a strategic memorandum of understanding would be signed between GE and the Kenya government GE plans 100MW wind farm at Ngong

France’s Eranove Group in partnership with Gabon’s state investment fund Fonds Gabonais d’Investissements Stratégiques (FGIS) invites expressions of interest by 30 April from engineering firms to prepare detailed design studies and assist with the project management for the Dibwangui hydropower project on the Louetsi River in the south-eastern region of Ngounié. The low-head project, with an estimated installed capacity of around 15MW, is to be developed by Eranove on a build-own-operate-transfer basis under a 30-year concession signed with FGIS in October 2016.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) board on 19 December agreed a $3m loan to Comoros to support energy sector reforms, particularly for electricity and financial governance. The reforms aim to strengthen the governance and performance of the energy sector so that it can support the country’s economic development, and to encourage the state to consolidate and deepen the reform of public finance management.

APR Energy faces a significant challenge in removing its temporary power generation equipment from Libya. The company has ten 25MW gas turbine units located at Al-Furnaj in south-eastern Tripoli, Zlitan and Al-Khums on the coast, and Samnu, north-east of Sabha. It also has a further 200MW of diesel generation units installed in Tripoli and at Um Al-Jadwal, south of Sabha. Most of the territory in which the units are installed is under the control of groups allied to the unrecognised Tripoli-based government.

Off-grid solar company BBOXX and General Electric (GE) announced the launch of a partnership in the Democratic Republic of Congo on 25 September. BBOXX expanded into the country earlier this year, forming a partnership with Victron Energy to supply larger solar systems to businesses in Goma as well as trialling mini-grids. In June, BBOXX signed an agreement with the government to roll out 300,000-400,000 solar systems over five years.

Morocco’s state power company is increasingly active in Africa and plans to open an international arm in London, to be closer to international financial markets and the developer community, and to create much-needed new revenue flows, its chief executive told Jon Marks in Casablanca

The World Bank announced on 17 January that the International Development Association would provide a $20m grant to help improve the performance of Central African Republic’s power and water suppliers, Energie Centrafricaine (Enerca) and Société des Eaux de Centrafrique (Sodeca), and increase access to water and electricity in the capital Bangui and the towns of Bambari and Berberati.

There has been a fresh wave of violent protests in the volatile capital of Conakry in recent days, with crowds attacking offices of state utility Electricité de Guinée (EDG) and blocking roads with burning tyres to protest at continued power cuts.

Berkeley Energy, as manager of the Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF), is seeking expressions of interest from consultants to carry out a wind resource assessment for the Konikablo wind project. AREF, a $200m fund backed by the African Development Bank to invest in development-stage renewable energy projects, is considering investing in the potential 50MW wind scheme.

Midvaal Local Municipality in Gauteng has issued a request for qualification for a public-private partnership concession to finance, design, manage, operate, maintain and expand electricity services. The small municipality, which in 2016 had a population of 111,612 people, is blazing a trail as one of the first to seek a private concessionaire to run its electricity distribution responsibilities. The concession could run for 15-20 years.

New York Stock Exchange-listed Ormat Technologies Ltd announced on 4 February that it had begun commercial operations at the 29MW Plant IV at the Olkaria III geothermal complex, bringing total installed capacity at the site to 139MW. Power will be sold to Kenya Power under a 20-year power purchase agreement, amended in October 2015 to allow for the future increase in phases of capacity at Plant IV to 100MW. Ormat brought the first phase of Plant I online in 2000 and the second phase in 2009.

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has begun investigations into Rolls-Royce’s operations in Nigeria, following accusations that the London Stock Exchange-listed engineering group filtered payments through intermediaries such as Unaoil to win deals in Indonesia, China, India and Brazil. As with previous investigations, the deals under scrutiny were transacted by Rolls-Royce’s previous management, headed by Sir John Rose. The Times newspaper reported on 20 May that the Nigerian deals involved Rolls-Royce’s alleged use of an intermediary company, PSL Engineering and Control, to influence the sale of gas turbines.

The deadline for financial close for projects in the third round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) programme has been put back to November from July. “Guided by factors such as the volatility of the rand, and in consultation with National Treasury and the Reserve Bank, we have opted to shift the date for financial close to November 2014. This will also allow Eskom to prepare adequately for the connection of these providers to the grid as planned,” energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said while delivering the energy budget to parliament on 21 July.

The president of the employers’ Fédération Nationale de l’Energie Moulay Abdallah Alaoui died on 8 February, aged 83. The federation has been a vocal lobby for industry interests, including moves to reduce the build up of payments arrears by Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau Potable and other state companies.

A company replacing Aggreko to provide 135MW of temporary power is linked to a local businessman and not to US interests as officials originally indicated (AE 296/8). A source at the energy ministry told African Energy that K Energy SA was registered by the businessman and honorary consul of South Korea in Guinea, Ibrahima Kassus Dioubaté. K Energy was established on 27 May 2014 and registered at investment agency Agence de Promotion des Investissements Privés on 28 May 2014. “Kassus has strong support within the presidency. He has been received several times by President Alpha Condé himself. It is he who introduced the company here, inspired by the Aggreko model,” one official told African Energy.