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Another spate of bombings by ultra-radical jihadist groups, aimed at western and security forces targets, has added to pressures on President Bouteflika’s regime, but international bankers’ biggest problem still seems to be getting around lending restrictions to book deals, writes Kevin Godier.

A subsidiary of Sharjah-based Mulk Holdings has won a contract to develop a 6MW solar park in Freetown. Mulk Oasis Gulf Investment will provide engineering, procurement and construction services for the project. The solar photovoltaic panels will be supplied by Masdar PV, owned by Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Company. The Freetown Solar Park is one of six projects selected from over 80 applications for the first funding cycle of the International Renewable Energy Agency project facility funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.

The Central Electricity Board (CEB) has requested expressions of interest for the installation of renewable energy technologies as a key part of the government’s strategy to reduce the island’s dependency on fossil fuels while “ensuring energy security at an affordable price”. The CEB is giving eligible promoters until 29 July to indicate their interest in the installation of grid-connected wind, solar photovoltaic, sustainable biomass, hydroelectric power, ocean and waste-to-power.CEB is also looking for baseload, according to senior Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities (MEPU) official Nirmala Nababsing.

President Macky Sall on 23 June inaugurated the 30MW Santhiou Mékhé solar photovoltaic (PV) scheme. The project has been developed by French investment firm Meridiam through its Meridiam Infrastructure Africa Fund, along with Engie subsidiary Solairedirect and Schneider Electric. The developers signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with Senelec in 2014.The solar scheme, described as the largest in West Africa, is located near Méouane, in the Thiès region.

Wind power plans are making encouraging progress, with Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) commissioning its 5.1MW Ngong II wind farm ahead of schedule and the Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) developers promising that their 300MW project will start up on time.

A cabinet meeting on 26 August agreed that the government would not pursue development of a proposed 360MW hydropower dam at Murchison Falls, a popular tourist destination within a national park.“Cabinet took a decision at its latest sitting that there will be no construction of the hydropower dam in Murchison Falls National Park,” tourism minister Ephraim Kamuntu told Agence France-Presse. “Definitely we still need more electricity to power our expanding economy, but this project can go elsewhere, not in the park.”

Energy minister Jeff Radebe announced on 1 June that the fifth round of the country’s renewable energy independent power producer procurement (REIPPP) programme will be launched in November. The round will procure 1,800MW of renewable energy, in a highly significant demonstration of commitment to the programme by the government. “A new bid round i.e. [bid window] 5 of the renewable energy IPP programme will be launched in this year and it is estimated to be 1,800MW of similar technologies as in the expedited bid window,” Radebe told an Energy Sector Stakeholder Engagement meeting in Midrand, Gauteng.

The African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa has approved a $950,000 grant for the development of the 20MW Windiga solar power plant. The project preparation grant will support the remaining advisory activities needed for the project to reach financial close, including support for the structuring of a 25-year power purchase agreement with state utility Sonabel, the bank said.The project is being developed by Canada’s Windiga Energy in the Boucle du Mouhoun area in the west of the country.

Two major hydropower projects totalling 320MW are set to be built in Madagascar to address the island state’s long-standing electricity supply issues. The 120MW Volobe plant and 200MW Sahofika plant are expected to commission in 2023-25, according to Rémy Huber, general manager of the CGHV consortium developing the Volobe project. “The Volobe and Sahofika projects will together play a major role in meeting the government’s energy sector objectives of doubling electricity production, reducing the cost of generation and expanding access to electricity for the population of Madagascar,” Huber told African Energy in an interview on 19 June.

The Ministry of Water and Energy is evaluating a feasibility study for the construction of five small-scale hydro-power plants to be built and managed by local private investors. The Ethiopian embassy monthly newsletter said four cooperatives and a private investor from the Southern region had been selected by the ministry’s Rural Electrification Fund to invest in the projects.

Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy developer Masdar has inaugurated a 15MW solar photovoltaic power project in Nouakchott. Mauritania’s electricity grid, which is powered mostly by expensive diesel generators, has an installed capacity of only 144MW, resulting in severe energy shortages. The Sheikh Zayed solar power plant accounts for 10% of Mauritania’s energy capacity, and with energy demand increasing by 12%/yr, it will help meet future electricity shortfalls and supply the energy demand of some 10,000 homes.

The Export-Import Bank of India has extended three lines of credit (LOCs) worth a total of $83.11m to finance the installation of three solar photovoltaic power projects with a total capacity of 35MW. The agreements were signed on 17 March in New Delhi during the CII-Exim Bank Conclave on India Africa Project Partnership, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank).

China’s TBEA has signed a concession agreement for the construction of a 300MW hydroelectric dam at Amaria on the Konkouré River to power a planned bauxite development. Work on the dam has started following earlier preliminary agreements for the scheme. The dam will provide power for a 30m t/yr bauxite mine and an aluminium smelter. President Alpha Condé formally launched the project in January 2018.

Sweden’s Seabased Energy on 20 March signed a contract with Ghanaian-owned TC’s Energy to build a wave power project at Ada. The pair aim to have 5MW on the grid by year-end and 100MW online within 24 months. “This is a historic moment for wave energy, for the power industry and for renewables. If everything goes well, this will be the biggest and largest wave power facility in the world, made possible because we have large, steady waves,” TC’s Energy chief executive Anthony Opoku told African Energy.

Solar home systems (SHS) pioneer Mobisol has entered self-administered insolvency proceedings at the District Court of Charlottenburg in Berlin. The move announced on 18 April gives the management three months to turn the company around and conclude negotiations with prospective investors that began at the start of the year. Mobisol has been operating since 2011. The news came soon after German off-grid company Solarkiosk AG announced that it had filed for insolvency and hoped to restructure during preliminary proceedings.