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Construction of a 5MW mini-hydro power station downstream of Lake Mutirikwi in Masvingo province will start in November, project developers have said. The Great Zimbabwe Hydro power project is licensed for 25 years, with Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission Distribution Company (ZETDC) as the offtaker.

President João Lourenço has issued a decree modifying the contract for the construction of the 2,172MW Caculo Cabaça dam with the removal of companies associated with controversial businesswoman Isabel dos Santos. Decree 79/18, dated July 12 and signed by Lourenço, states that the contract must be modified to remove the consortium of China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC), Niara Holding and Boreal Investment, and give sole rights to CGGC.

Gemcorp Capital has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Energy and Water which could lead to excess power generated in Angola being exported to Namibia and the Southern African Power Pool (Sapp).

The  Zungeru hydroelectric power plant has been commissioned, adding some 10% to Nigeria’s on-grid capacity. However, dispatching Zungeru’s full capacity will depend on the patchy transmission network.

The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) has agreed to provide up to $1m in funding to support the development of two run-of-the-river hydroelectric power (HEP) projects, which are being developed by Mauritius-based Tembo Power in the south of Burundi.

The Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET) has denied local media reports in Nigeria that it had signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Mabon Power for 40MW from the Dadin Kowa hydropower plant.

Frontier Energy partner Daniel Schultz told African Energy that construction had been completed at the 5MW Kakaka hydropower plant, with commercial operations expected by end-August or September after Covid-19-related restrictions had caused significant delays.

Cedar Energy is hoping to reach a power purchase agreement (PPA) with offtaker Power Market Ltd (PML) in the near future for its 3MW run-of-river project on the Muloza River in Mulanje District. Although construction of the plant in southern Malawi, near the border with Mozambique, was completed in February, it has yet to be formally commissioned as a result of complications stemming from recent market reforms.

The 15MW Nyamagasani I and 5MW Nyamagasani II run-of-river hydropower projects are both due to be commissioned in 2021. The plants received financial commitments of $13m in the third round of the Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariffs (GET FiT) programme in November 2014.

Construction started on the Nyabarongo II hydropower plant at end-April, according to Energy Development Corporation Ltd (EDCL) executive Theoneste Higaniro. The plant, being built for EDCL – a subsidiary of the government’s Rwanda Energy Group (REG) – by China’s Sinohydro, will comprise three 14.5MW units due online in September 2025, November 2025, and January 2026 respectively.

Campaigners have attacked the proposed development of the 2,400MW Batoka Gorge hydroelectric scheme on the Zambezi River, arguing the dam will destroy tourism and that the coronavirus pandemic has prevented proper consultations with affected communities, writes Tonderayi Mukeredzi in Harare.

Mauritius-based Tembo Power has outlined plans for the construction of five hydropower plants in the Lubudi area of Lualaba province with a combined generation capacity of over 70MW. The project, which would cost an estimated $300m, aims to improve power supply to miners in the Copperbelt region. Tembo DRC chief operating officer John Nsana Kanyoni presented feasibility studies for the project to a workshop in Kinshasa on 28 June. The hydrological, geotechnical and environmental studies were carried out by Aurecon, which identified five sites along the Kalule Sud River, a tributary of the Lualaba River.

The Senegal River Basin Development Organisation (OMVS) signed a contract with Sinohydro on 26 February to develop the 294MW Koukoutamba hydroelectric project in northern Guinea. Sinohydro will build the $812m project, located in the department of Tougué, in the Labé region, on the Bafing River about 7.5km upstream of its confluence with the Senegal River, under an engineering, procurement and construction contract financed by the Export-Import Bank of China. Construction is expected to begin before the end of H1 2019, and take four years, according to project manager Bouya Condé.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi have pledged to renew efforts to resolve their dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) during a meeting in Cairo. The two leaders said they would try to reach an agreement on the dam’s filling and operating procedures within four months.

Ethiopia’s ‘unilateral action’ in starting limited power generation at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) violates its diplomatic obligations, Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry told the Council of the League of Arab States on 9 March.