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Additions of renewable power generating capacity are proceeding more slowly than expected in markets with weak grids, such as Nigeria and Malawi. In response, developers are assessing potential solutions including increased baseload capacity and ancillary services agreements.

Supermajor Shell has acquired Nigerian commercial and industrial (C&I) developer Daystar Power for an undisclosed sum. The Lagos-headquartered firm’s co-founders and management team will remain in situ. Daystar also announced plans to expand into southern and eastern African markets.

Kenya Electricity Generating Company and Akiira Geothermal are planning the co-development of several new geothermal projects in KenGen’s first joint venture deal with an independent power producer (IPP), company officials told African Energy – and other IPP deals could follow for the state generation company.

Galvanised by the possibilities presented by green hydrogen (GH2), the Cairo authorities have drawn up an extraordinary vision for transforming the Egyptian energy sector and economy in the coming decades. The plans include tens or possibly hundreds of gigawatts of renewable power, barrages of electrolysers, an entirely new export-focused energy infrastructure, plus renewables-powered sea water desalination projects to break the millennia-old dependence on the River Nile. Most of the technology, financing and fully worked-out strategies have yet to be put in place, but the government aims to sign the first commercial deals at the COP27 summit in November. African Energy gives details of this policy in a series of articles

Total Eren and Cairo-based Enara Capital’s agreement to develop a green ammonia plant in the Suez Canal Development Zone (SCZone) is the sixth Egyptian green hydrogen (GH2) project to be agreed in the past three months. With Masdar, EDF, Amea Power, Maersk and Scatec already pursuing schemes, the pace at which these deals are being put in place demonstrates Egypt’s determination to establish a leading position in GH2 exploitation – and to make this part of a broader energy hub strategy.

Far-reaching amendments aimed as enabling a competitive market for electricity preceded another infrastructure-heavy State of the Nation address from President Cyril Ramaphosa. The devil will be in the detail as the industry pores over South Africa’s latest draft bill and the president’s statements about upcoming generation procurement, writes Dan Marks.

Democratic Republic of Congo has aspirations to become the world leader in emerging battery technologies, but despite its mineral assets, clear political will and grandiose statements from potential donors, considerable challenges need to be addressed before the country can move beyond its traditional role as supplier of raw materials, writes François Misser with Jon Marks.

Industry players continue to make bullish sounds about projects in Ethiopia, despite the murderous conflict pitting the Abiy Ahmed government against Tigrayan rebels that is putting some financing on hold and leading to geopolitical realignments in the region, writes Dan Marks

The global hydrocarbons industry is entering a critical period, as oil majors press on with attempts to reinvent their businesses to meet ambitious emissions reduction targets and accommodate shifting investor expectations. That is likely to lead to further retrenchment from key African markets as the biggest international players reassess their priorities, which will favour gas over crude projects. But not everyone is heading for the exit, writes James Gavin.

TotalEnergies’ move to increase its interest in the Waha oil concessions, plus a separate agreement with General Electric Company of Libya (Gecol) to build 500MW of solar power, shows how the politically nimble oil major intends to trace a line between its fossil-fuelled past and the net zero future.

The PIDG group is pushing its credentials as a powerful support for early-stage developments with significant business flow of renewables projects. A solar project in Burkina Faso is the latest beneficiary, writes Marc Howard.

GreenCo Power Services’ request for qualification for a pilot solar project is a significant development, both domestically and regionally. Not only is it one of the first on-grid projects in Africa to be tendered by an entity other than a national utility, but it is also the first such project to be tendered under a private offtaker framework, writes Marc Howard.

Solar off-grid developer Winch Energy has secured $100m of investment to fund its African expansion plans. The company’s business model aims to develop projects quickly and at sufficient scale to make them commercially viable, writes Marc Howard

A report from off-grid solar industry association Gogla shows significant falls in sales of household solar products in H1 2020 as Covid-19 slowed ­progress. The Global Off-grid Solar Market Report for H1 2020 shows sales of solar lighting products – including lanterns, multi-light systems, and solar home systems – fell by 26% compared with H1 2019, to the lowest volumes since 2014.

With midsummer electricity demand threatening to reach 1GW above supply, state power company General Electric Company of Libya (Gecol) has contracted a further 200MW of temporary power from London Stock Exchange-listed APR Energy, adding to the 250MW already supplied by the US firm and 100MW provided by US giant GE. The Florida-based company said its 200MW expansion contract, signed on 17 June, made its total 450MW supply of “fast-track power” to Libya “the single largest contract ever signed in the industry”.