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Construction of the Lephalale solar PV plant that will power Exxaro Resources’ Grootegeluk coal mine in Limpopo province is scheduled to start in early 2023, following approval of the project by National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa).

Egyptian oil and gas producers are foregoing an estimated $4.5bn a year of revenues by flaring gas rather than putting it to use – 50% more than the $3bn financing deal recently agreed between Cairo and the IMF. International companies are putting in place projects to deal with the problem, but a lot more needs to be done.  

In a new policy brief, the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) has identified five key areas where action is needed if Africa is to make the most of its vast wind energy potential.

Policymakers agree more action is needed to counter debt distress and unlock funds for the energy transition, but there are few signs that a more effective financial architecture will emerge any time soon. Meanwhile concerns over rising sovereign debt are feeding into hesitancy over new lending, writes Jon Marks.

Cairo has secured the hosting rights for the COP27 intergovernmental meeting next year, in further evidence of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s interest in using climate change as a diplomatic tool, but the short-term prospects for large renewable schemes will remain limited until the economy expands by enough to use up existing surplus generation capacity, writes John Hamilton.

Sultan Al-Jaber’s appointment to preside over the end-year COP28 climate talks in Dubai brings a storied United Arab Emirates official to global prominence. His leadership in renewables developer Masdar and other UAE sustainable energy initiatives is welcome, but Al-Jaber’s powerful role as head of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has added to climate campaigners’ fears that big hydrocarbons producers will take the COP process even further off track, write Jon Marks and African Energy staff.

It was supposed to be all about implementation and Africa, but the COP27 climate summit ended on 20 November amid disharmony and a failure to agree more cuts in fossil fuel use. However, a series of initiatives were launched that might not have gained as much media attention but which could help African countries match their development needs with clean energy ambitions, writes John Hamilton, recently in Sharm El Sheikh.

With the UAE positioned among a select group of major oil producers who expect to keep supplying global markets as the energy transition unfolds, detractors fear that COP28 has been subverted by hydrocarbons industry lobbying, which they claim will be promoted by the climate conference’s president-designate, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company chief executive Sultan Al-Jaber. But it would prove a historic mistake for critics to under-estimate the multi-faceted Al-Jaber’s arguments and commitments, as the UAE commits billions of dollars to renewable energy development in Africa in moves that will help the politically savvy Emirates to forge a powerful southern alliance at a likely polarised COP28.

So much for a post-carbon world, as a welter of new upstream investment plays marks the start of 2023. Some of Africa’s biggest producers are offering new acreage and developments, including Nigeria’s latest marginal fields round and Algerian efforts to exploit surging demand for gas stoked by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) plans to raise $1.5bn by 2025 in green finance and has structured a risk-sharing transaction to boost its overall finance capacity by almost $2bn.

Authorities in Cairo are anxious to get some high-profile green hydrogen (GH2) schemes going as quickly as possible. This means international companies that have signed MoUs with the government to develop schemes are in a race against time to complete a six-step project preparation plan before COP27 opens in November.

South Africa’s mineral resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe remains an unapologetic advocate for the continued use of coal, arguing that its importance for the economy and employment cannot be ignored. The DMRE arranged a colloquium with coal industry leaders on 1 February for Mantashe to deliver a call to arms.

The unveiling of a number of major initiatives to help mitigate climate change, start moving towards offering ‘loss and damage’ support and stimulating carbon markets and other financing mechanisms was a feature of the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh. African Energy takes a closer look at The Bridgetown Initiative, Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa, African Carbon Markets Initiative and The Transforma Platform.

Climate change – closely linked to the intractable issues of poverty and inequality – is an issue preoccupying policy-makers around the world, but its impacts are particularly acute across swathes of Africa. But while calls for swifter action to unlock larger amounts of financing were paramount at the inaugural Africa Climate Summit (ACS), held in Nairobi on 4-6 September, it was also apparent that views differ widely on how to address the challenge.

Balanced on a financial tight-rope, the Egyptian government is still securing investment commitments for its green energy transition and has brought forward its renewables target by five years. London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is financing the first part of a $2bn programme of transmission upgrades and has named the first gas-fired generator to be shut under the scheme, while Maersk’s new C2X green methanol venture has picked Egypt for its first deal.