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The 3.5MW Nyagak hydroelectric power station was inaugurated on 14 September by President Yoweri Museveni. The long-delayed facility was built as part of the West Nile rural electrification project, the first African project to be financed in part by the World Bank’s Prototype Carbon Fund.

Energy minister Medard Kalemani has said the first phase of the 2,115MW Julius Nyerere hydropower project at Stiegler’s Gorge is more than 70% complete. Speaking after visiting the project site on 5 April to counter reports that the project had stalled due to a shortage of funds, he said the Treasury had paid more than $700m towards the project, which has an estimated total cost of $3bn.“We are on schedule for the first phase, which is due to be completed next year,” he said.

Following an outcry over an application from a South African company for a permit to conduct feasibility studies for a hydro plant at Murchison Falls, state minister for privatisation and investment Evelyn Anite has said the site will be protected.“We don’t agree with any investor destroying our natural resources. And I don’t expect any investor to be licensed to destroy a national treasure like Murchison Falls or even operate in a wetland,” the New Vision newspaper quoted her as saying on 25 June.

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe is installing a 0.45MW solar plant at its Willowvale offices in Harare as its sister company Distributed Power Africa (DPA) rolls out $250m of investment to provide solar energy for industrial, commercial and domestic use. The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority granted Econet a 25-year licence in March to construct, own and operate a solar power plant.DPA is part of Cumii Technologies, a subsidiary of the Econet Group.

Signs of rapprochement between Algeria and Morocco, and the gathering pace of Morocco’s renewables programme, provide some of the most positive newsflow from North Africa, but the central issue dividing Algiers and Rabat will not go away – and contracts awarded by Moroccan developers to foreign firms in the disputed Western Sahara are providing fresh ammunition in the Polisario Front’s independence campaign, writes Selwa Calderbank

Axian Group subsidiary Jovena is planning its second major investment in the island state’s power generation in support of the government’s energy transition programme. Following the commissioning last October of the Noor 1 and 2 heavy fuel oil (HFO)-fired thermal power plants, which were inaugurated in January this year, Jovena, one of Madagascar’s leading petroleum products distributors, is in discussions with the government over the terms of a build, own, operate and transfer concession for a 120MW hydropower plant in Toamasina in the Tamatave region.

The Environmental Protection Agency held a public consultation on 6 April to discuss the environmental and social impact of a proposed 120MW hydro scheme on the St John River. The proposed scheme, being developed by HydroChina, would improve power supply to Bong and Grand Bassa counties. According to the environmental and social impact assessment for the scheme carried out by Natural Resources Development Corporation, residents of Ceegar Town, Weagon Town, and Rufus Kamei Town would have to be relocated.

For eight years, private firm eleQtra has managed projects for InfraCo Africa, an investment group affiliated with the Private Infrastructure Development Group, a group of European countries plus the World Bank that work to boost infrastructural development in hard-to-reach markets. eleQtra managing director Richard Parry told African Energy InfraCo currently has power projects in Cape Verde, Senegal, Zambia and Ghana, and is working with mining company Rio Tinto to provide electricity to the Guinean town of Beyla through a 1MW hydro power plant on the Cessou River.

The Rural Electrification Authority (REA) has completed the construction of its first mini-hydropower station. The 0.64MW Kasanjiku project on the Kasanjiku River in Mwinilunga district, North Western Province, will electrify 11 schools, a mission hospital, four rural health centres, a local court and the chief’s palace, according to a statement on 7 October.

Off-grid solar provider Persistent Energy Ghana (PEG) is seeking to quadruple its customer base by year-end, despite the many challenges presented by a new market. “In Ghana, there are approximately 5m people off grid. If we only reach a tiny percentage of them, we will hit our targets,” PEG chief operating officer Nate Heller told African Energy. The company, owned by the US’ Persistent Energy Partners (PEP), has been active in Ghana since 2013, but its history goes back to 2009, when chief executive Hugh Whalan set up Energy in Common, a non-profit solar energy company in Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania dedicated to micro-financing of renewable projects.

Renewable power developer Scatec Solar and the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund) have signed a partnership agreement to jointly invest in renewable power projects. The agreement formalises the existing relationship between the companies, which has seen them co-operate to develop three power plants in South Africa – 40MW Linde, 75MW Kalkbult and 75MW Dreunberg – and an 8.5MW facility in Rwanda. The partnership will provide a framework for sharing information and involve the creation of a joint investment company which will be 70% owned by Scatec and 30% owned by Norfund.

The World Bank is assessing $100m of International Development Association finance for the $270.4m Jiji and Melembwe hydropower project. The project, which will go before the board for approval on 22 April, aims to help overcome the reduction in power output during the six-month dry season. All hydroelectric generation except the 18MW Rwegura facility comprises run-of-river plants without reservoirs.The project will construct two hydroelectric power plants in Bururi Province at a cost of $252m, one on the Mulembwe River and another on the Jiji River, as well as 110kV transmission lines. Prefeasibility studies were conducted in 2011 on four sites identified by Fichtner in 2010, with Jiji and Mulembwe designated priority projects.

The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation is seeking bids for project consultancy services for the 100MW Assela wind farm project, to be built south-east of Addis Ababa.

Evolution One Fund, a ZAR700m ($98.53m) clean technology private equity fund, has committed to invest up to ZAR146m in Red Cap’s 100MW Kouga wind farm, in the Kouga municipality of Eastern Cape province, 70km south-west of Port Elizabeth

The West African Power Pool is seeking expressions of interest from consultants by 9 December to carry out feasibility studies and environmental and social impact assessments for a 150MW hydropower plant on the St Paul River and the phased development of up to 90MWp of solar PV capacity.