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Kenya Power has started pre-qualifying contractors interested in hybridising 23 diesel power generators in northern Kenya. “Until very recently all sites were run on diesel generator sets but some have an existing mix of solar and wind turbines… The final numbers of retrofit sites may differ as depending on the results of the ongoing studies and the final construction budget,” the prequalification notice says.

Energie des Grands Lacs (EGL) is set to launch studies for the development of the Ruzizi IV regional hydropower plant  on the Ruzizi River, which forms the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. The international organisation formed under the auspices of the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries has issued a general procurement notice for consulting services to study the technical, economic, financial and institutional feasibility of the 287MW run-of-river project as well as assess the environmental, social and climate change impacts and determine appropriate mitigation measures.

Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Energy and Power (AREP) has acquired a 40% stake in South Africa’s SOLA Group, becoming the largest individual shareholder in the company. AREP made the announcement on 4 February but the transaction was finalised in late 2020. Two AREP directors will join SOLA’s board.

The impact of coronavirus and concerns about swelling public debt have forced Zambia to indefinitely freeze plans for China to build 600MW of solar capacity. In 2020, Zesco announced a $548m deal for Power China to build three solar PV projects in Chibombo, Chirundu and Siavonga districts on an EPC plus finance basis, but sources within Zesco, the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Finance confirmed to African Energy the project had stalled.

InfraCo Africa, part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group, and Canada’s JCM Power announced on 2 March that construction would begin soon on the 20MWac Golomoti solar PV project in Malawi.

Engie announced on 1 March it has acquired a 50% stake in the 100MW Xina One concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in the Northern Cape from Abengoa, which filed for insolvency in Spain on 22 February after failing to restructure debt worth around €6bn ($7.3bn); the company only narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 2016 when it refinanced €9bn of debt. Engie also acquired 46% of operations and maintenance company Xina CSP Operations.

Egypt is ready to supply Sudan with as much electric power as it needs, according to minister of electricity and renewable energy Mohamed Shaker. Speaking on 21 March, he said the country had the available capacity and was ready to increase export capacity from 80MW to 300MW.

Cape Town-based developer Red Rocket expects its 140MW Roggeveld Wind plant in the Northern Cape to reach commercial operations by end-year and has a number of other projects ready to close, chief executive Matteo Brambilla told African Energy. The company recently achieved commercial operations at the 4MW Kruisvallei hydroelectric power plant, selected under the renewable energy IPP programme (REIPPP) fourth round.

The Independent Power Producer Office on 12 April issued a request for proposals (RfP) for the long-awaited fifth bid window of South Africa’s Renewable Energy IPP Procurement Programme (REIPPP). The round will cover up to 1.6GW of onshore wind power and 1GW of solar PV. A bidders’ conference will be held in May, with proposals to be submitted by 16 August.

Upepo Energy and other companies have expressed optimism that there will be positive shifts in official attitudes to investment, according to African Energy’s soundings. Chief development officer Dean Baumgardner said  Upepo Energy – active in Tanzania since 2014 – was waiting on projects which were selected as preferred bidders in last year’s a renewable energy auction.

Tlou Energy has awarded two tenders for work on its gas and solar Lesedi power project. The local Zismo Engineering has won a contract for the construction of 100km of 66kV overhead transmission lines. South Africa’s OptiPower secured another tender for construction of substations at Lesedi and Serowe, where it will connect with the grid.

The World Bank Group’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (Miga) has issued guarantees worth up to $37.1m to African Infrastructure Investment Managers’ (AIIM) African Infrastructure Investment Fund 3. It will cover AIIM’s investment in solar home system (SHS) company Bboxx’s operations in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, and Rwanda for up to ten years.

The United States’ International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has committed to reach net-zero emissions in its investment portfolio by 2040 and increase climate-focused commitments to 33% of new investments from 2023. DFC’s 22 April statement also said a five-year, $50m technical assistance platform would be launched to support feasibility studies and the implementation of its portfolio.

In a move to leverage pension fund income to increase local yields from renewable energy projects, Mergence Unlisted Investment Managers (Namibia) has increased its shareholding in the Ejuva I and II solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in Gobabis, Omaheke region, to take a 66% majority stake.

A net 7,706MW was added to the African power grid in 2020, down from 9.6GW in 2019 and a high of 19GW in 2018, according to an annual update from African Energy Live Data. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) the impact was even more severe, when South Africa is excluded from the data. Only 1,584MW was added in the SSA region over the course of the year, the lowest amount of new capacity since 2008.