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Climate Finance Partnership (CFP), an investment vehicle run by giant United States fund manager BlackRock, is making its first investment in Africa with a large minority stake in the 310MW Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) project in Marsabit County, northern Kenya.

Chadian developer ZIZ Energie has confirmed to African Energy the dates it expects its solar PV mini-grids in Ati and Moussoro to come online. The two projects have faced numerous delays due to supply constraints and financing issues.

Infrastructure minister James Musoni, US ambassador Erica Barks-Ruggles and German ambassador Peter Woeste have launched the construction of the 2.6MW Rwaza I hydropower plant in Musanze district, Northern Province. The $12m project is funded by the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and by Germany’s KfW. “The power plant we are launching today might be small in size, but we have no doubt that even the 2.6MW to be produced at Rwaza-Muko micro-hydropower plant will greatly contribute to our bold vision.

Expanding energy access is one key to the government’s strategy to spur economic growth by way of industrialisation. The strategy is also expected to include privatisation of some state-owned enterprises (SOEs), notably in the sugar industry.

A recent flurry of activity by outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari will help his successor Bola Tinubu to tackle key macroeconomic problems, including cutting subsidies and overhauling the exchange rate. It could pave the way for a more proactive government at a time of extreme economic and other stresses, writes Jon Marks.

An anticipated surge in demand for electricity in the coming years – from a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) project as well as the mining sector, a new electric railway and other sources – is prompting the government to look at adding more gas-fired capacity to the grid and to push ahead with renewable energy projects, writes Marc Howard.

Sudan’s energy sector has a history of mismanagement and bad value deals going back many years. Its record of failure started under Omar Hassan Al-Bashir (head of state under various titles from 1989 until 2019) and worsened under the ineffective successor civilian administration.

Tanzanian Electrical Supply Company (Tanesco) has still not signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for a renewable energy (RE) independent power project (IPP) of more than 10MW capacity. This is a glaring omission according to one participant at the Africa Investment Exchange: Energy in Transition meeting in London in mid-April, given Tanzania is endowed with excellent wind and solar resources.  

Milele Energy has completed the purchase of a 25.25% stake in the 310MW Lake Turkana Wind Project (LTWP) in Marsabit County, in a major step forward for the Nairobi-headquartered company.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has approved plans by utility Eskom to procure 344.5MW of capacity from new solar PV and battery energy storage plants.

Developers of small hydropower (SHP) projects in East Africa are facing greater challenges in raising finance for their schemes, as a result of weak national grids and a shift away from take-or-pay arrangements by offtakers, according to one industry figure.

President Ismail Omar Guelleh commissioned the 20MW wind plant that supplies the Doraleh Desalination facility, 5km west of Djibouti City, on 14 March. Energy generated by the plant is used to power the 22,500m3 capacity reverse osmosis facility. The government plans a further upgrade to 45,000m3.

Egypt’s Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly and Central Bank of Egypt governor Hassan Abdalla face an imminent decision on whether to allow the operators of solar power projects at the Benban Solar Farm to convert Egyptian pound profits into dollars so they can meet a mid-July debt repayment deadline. At stake are both short-term financial stability and long-term credibility.

Speeches made by African leaders at the 1-2 November opening of COP26 provided some insights into how they plan to move ahead with decarbonisation, while ensuring they don’t lose out on development opportunities for their economies. African Energy examines an A-to-Z of the leaders’ preoccupations

Cairo has got much of what it wanted from the COP27 climate-fest in Sharm El Sheikh, with $85bn of green hydrogen and renewable power mega-deals that have focused attention and foreign investment on a centrepiece of President Sisi’s economic strategy, Egypt’s energy hub concept. African Energy has analysed proposals from nine investment partners to calculate how much wind and solar generation capacity will be needed to produce green ammonia equivalent to 10% of current global production, which Egypt says it is ‘harvesting’, writes John Hamilton.