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The Africa50 investment platform announced on 4 December that it has acquired a 15% stake in the 420MW Nachtigal hydroelectric power project, with the Stoa investment vehicle established by the Agence Française de Développement and Caisse des Dépôts acquiring 10% of the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) stake in the project.

Development of Ciments du Maroc’s renewables projects involves Italcementi Group’s energy arm Italgen, which has promoted solar and wind projects in Bulgaria and

The International Finance Corporation announced on 15 November that Côte d’Ivoire had signed an agreement to join the Scaling Solar initiative. The country will develop two 30MW solar power plants at Touba and Laboa in the northeast of the country on a public-private partnership basis. Côte d’Ivoire is the sixth country to sign up to the initiative, which has yielded the lowest tariffs achieved on the continent for solar power to date, despite a mixed reception by the industry.

Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) has signed contracts with Chinese companies for the construction of the Genale Dawa-3 and Chemoga Yeda hydroelectric power (HEP) projects, and for the Mesobo Harena and Adama wind projects.

Nevada-based wind and solar power developer Terra Global Energy Developers officially launched the 400MW Debre Berhan wind power project on 14 February. The project is located about 75 miles north of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Construction is expected to begin during 2014. Terra Global chief executive Dereje Abebe told African Energy the company was funding the feasibility study and that the financial package for construction was being negotiated with multilateral agencies and commercial sources.

Germany’s Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) has invited bids for participation in the Premium Payment Mechanism (PPM), part of the GET FiT Program Uganda. The PPM is intended to improve the financial viability of small renewable power projects by providing a payment per kWh on top of the renewable energy feed-in tariffs approved by the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA).

The European Commission’s ACP-EU Partnership is financing the development of four 80kWp solar photovoltaic (PV)-diesel mini-grids in Mali. Under the programme, tendering is now under way for the supply, delivery and commissioning of four plants in Beleko Soba, Fakola, Dogoni and Diena. Bidding will be in two lots – Beleko Soba and Fakola in lot 1 and Dogoni and Diena in lot 2 – and is being run by the Netherlands’ Foundation Rural Energy Services (FRES).

Minister of energy, mines and renewable energies Khaled Kaddour gave his initial approval to ten solar photovoltaic generation projects on 30 April. They comprise the first phase of a tender-led renewables procurement programme launched by his predecessor Hela Cheikhrouhou in June 2017.

The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has finalised a bridge loan facility worth €149.6m ($170m) for the construction of the 44MW Singrobo-Ahouaty hydropower project. The transaction closed in mid-December, when a first disbursement was made for the project, in which the AFC has also invested €24.4m equity. Construction is expected to begin before Q2.The loan is intended to fast-track construction while long-term lenders secure final credit approvals, complete documentation, meet conditions precedent and disburse funds.

Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL) invites expressions of interest by 11 September for consulting services for a feasibility study for the rehabilitation and optimisation of the Nalubaale and Kiira hydropower plants. The 180MW Nalubaale and 200MW Kiira hydropower plants are located at the source of the River Nile, near Jinja on Lake Victoria. The ten 18MW units of Nalubaale were commissioned in stages between 1954 and 1968, while the five 40MW units of Kiira were brought on line between 2000 and 2004.

The government has contracted US company MAECI Solar, in collaboration with GE Power & Water and Princeton Power Systems, to install a 5MW solar microgrid system on Annobon Island. The microgrid will provide electricity for the island’s 5,000 residents using GE’s battery-based energy storage system, which is designed to withstand the high temperatures on the island. The project is being led by MAECI Solar, which is providing the solar modules and system integration. US firm Princeton Power will be responsible for the energy management system and controls.

The government has appointed boards for the new power companies formed late last year to replace Empresa Nacional de Electricidade (ENE) and Empresa de Distribuição de Electricidade de Luanda, enabling them to start work in earnest. A cabinet meeting on 6 February approved the appointments, which will pave the way for hoped-for private investment in the sector. The Empresa Nacional de Produção de Electricidade (Prodel) generation company will be headed by António Fernandes Rodrigues Belsa da Costa, former board chairman of state water company Empresa Pública da Aguas (Epal), while former ENE directors Euclides Morais de Brito and Júlio Capitango will be in charge of thermal generation and hydropower, respectively.

Denmark’s Danske Bank signed a loan agreement worth €117m ($128m) in June for the 100MW Assela wind project. The agreement is awaiting approval by Ethiopia’s parliament. Assela is backed by Denmark’s Ministry of Development Cooperation through Danish International Development Assistance (Danida), which signed an agreement to support the €146m project in 2018. Danida is providing both grants and guarantees for Danske Bank.

UK-based G4 Industries has cancelled plans for a controversial 28,000ha jatropha project at Tana River Delta, citing environmental concerns

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn inaugurated the 51MW Adama One wind power project on 1 December. The power project has 34 wind turbines, each with the ability to generate 1.5MW. Some 85% of the $117m cost of the project was covered by a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China, and the remainder by the Ethiopian government.