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Russian sponsorship of Mali’s largest under-development solar PV plant has raised eyebrows in the industry. It represents an unusual departure for Rosatom and depends on the warm ties between Colonel Assimi Goïta’s regime and Moscow.

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.

It is more than a whisper: international institutions and private equity (PE) investors are again exploring major hydroelectric power (HEP) deals, after years during which environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns made big dams a problematic issue for development finance institutions (DFI) and other potential investors.

State utility Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd (UEGCL) has synchronised the sixth and final unit of the Karuma hydroelectric power plant to the grid.

State utility Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) has started work to connect the 2.1GW Julius Nyerere hydroelectric power (HEP) plant to Chalinze substation in Pwani district, via a 400kV power transmission line built by India’s Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

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 Zambezi River Authority (ZRA)’s efforts to rehabilitate the Kariba Dam have suffered delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but the company’s chief executive now says that the project should be completed in early 2025, just a few months later than the previous deadline.

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.