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Speaking at the Powering Africa: Summit in Washington on 9-10 March, head of legal at the Department of Energy (DoE)’s Independent Power Producer (IPP) Office Lena Mangondo said power purchase agreements (PPAs) and other documents would be signed by renewable energy IPPs and Eskom on 11 April. Energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson sent a letter directing Eskom to sign the agreements after President Jacob Zuma’s announcement during the State of the Nation address last month that PPAs would be signed with remaining preferred bidders from the country’s REIPP procurement programme (REIPPP), Mangondo said.

Addax and Oryx Group subsidiary Addax Bioenergy SA has broken ground for the construction of an ethanol refinery and biomass-fuelled power plant, due to become operational in 2013, at its sugarcane plantation development near Makeni in central Sierra Leone. Addax Bioenergy in June signed a loan agreement with seven European and African development finance institutions

Construction officially got under way on 17 March at the $19m 10MW Soroti solar photovoltaic (PV) project in eastern Uganda. The project was selected through the Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariffs (GET FiT) scheme in December 2014, bidding a tariff of 16.38c/kWh over the course of the 20-year power purchase agreement. Commercial operations are expected in July.

Google says it is still in negotiations with Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems over buying its 12.5% stake in the Lake Turkana wind farm, which was officially commissioned on 19 July. Google reached agreement in October 2015 with Vestas and Lake Turkana Wind Power Ltd (LTWP), the developers of the 310MW project, giving it the option of taking a stake once the project was complete. At the time the project was expected online in 2017, but it was hit by delays to the transmission line. When the plant started producing electricity last September, LTWP director Rizwan Fazal said Google had until June 2019 to decide.

Rural electrification agency Agence Malienne pour le Développement de l’Energie Domestique et l’Electrification Rurale (Amader) seeks bids by 24 July for the supply, installation and commissioning of solar photovoltaic-diesel hybrid systems and associated low-voltage networks in ten villages. The tender has been split into three lots: lot 1 for Zantiebougou, Finkolo-Ganadougou and Tabacoro; lot 2 for Bladié, Massigui and Bancoumana; and lot 3 for Manankoro, Sikorole, Bougoula and Kébila.

Société Nigérienne d’Electricité (Nigelec) has invited prequalification applications by 8 November for the turnkey development of a 20MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Niamey’s Gorou Banda district. The contract covers design and construction of the project, including the supply and installation of equipment, as well as its operation and maintenance for two years from commissioning, during which time management of the plant will be gradually transferred to Nigelec.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) will provide up to $4.5bn of finance for the construction of the 2,171MW Caculo Cabaça dam on the Kwanza River, 19km downstream from the 2,070MW Laúca dam. The contract for what will be Angola’s biggest dam was signed in Beijing on 29 November by Angolan finance minister Archer Mangueira. The project will benefit from insurance cover by Sinosure to guarantee the investment, China’s largest in Angola to date.

Energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson has announced ten preferred bidders from the small projects renewable energy independent power producers procurement programme, which aims to bring online renewable energy projects between 1MW and 5MW. The ten comprise six solar photovoltaic (PV) projects – Adams, Bellatrix, Du Plessis PV4, Heuningspruit PV1, Steynsrus PV1, Steynsrus PV2; two wind farms – Hopefield Community and Klawer; and two biomass facilities – Busby Renewables and George. Bids were submitted for the round in November 2014.

A draft of the updated integrated resource plan (IRP) 2010-2030 has been released by South Africa’s Department of Energy (DoE) for public comment. The document revises downwards the 2030 electricity demand forecast from 454TWh in the 2010 IRP to 345-416TWh, with significant implications for nuclear power strategy. This means that peak generation will be 61,200MW rather than 67,800MW, at the upper end of the demand forecast. The reduced demand forecast means that a decision on nuclear power can be delayed until the costs and alternatives are better understood.

The Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy has appointed a team of advisers to assist with development of the 1.5GW Mphanda Nkuwa hydropower project on the Zambezi River, 60km downstream from the 2,075MW Cahora Bassa dam. The consortium, led by Synergy Consulting and comprising Baker McKenzie, Worley and HRA Advogados, will work with the Mphanda Nkuwa Project Office (GMNK) to update technical studies and select a private sector partner to develop the project in partnership with Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) and Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa, an official source confirmed to African Energy.

UK-based power developer Globeleq announced on 18 July that the company has reached a definitive agreement with an affiliate of New York Stock Exchange-listed Brookfield Asset Management to acquire majority stakes in six renewable energy projects with combined capacity of 178MW. The deal, which is subject to outstanding conditions, includes Globeleq taking a majority position in Brookfield’s South African asset management company.

Société Nigérienne d’Electricité has invited expressions of interest by 1 August from consultants to carry out a technical and economic feasibility study for the electrification of 100 rural communities, comprising around 200,000 inhabitants, through the installation of solar photovoltaic or hybrid mini-grids.

Mozambique’s Energy Fund (Funae) and the Belgian Development Agency (Enabel) are seeking consultants to assist with the development of hybrid solar PV mini-grids. Bids are sought by 15 April for technical, financial, environmental and socio-economic feasibility studies on five potential sites, of which three are located in the coastal area of Zambézia Province (Namanla, Alto Maganha and Idugo) and two in the inland province of Nampula (Muite and Milhana). The mini-grids will supply electricity for domestic and public use, as well as for irrigation systems and small-scale industry.

The government has published a comprehensive atlas of Democratic Republic of Congo’s renewables potential, focusing on the vast hydro resource outside the Grand Inga complex. The 582-page atlas, compiled by experts from the United Nations Development Programme, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and the Congolese Ministry of Water Resources and Energy, also outlines potential wind, solar and geothermal projects, and even the biogas potential of Congolese livestock, but the main focus is hydropower, whose total potential is estimated at 100,000MW, including 44,000MW at the Inga site.

Beverages manufacturer Schweppes Zimbabwe has commissioned a 1MW solar plant which project installers have described as the largest roof-mounted commercial solar system by an IPP in southern Africa outside South Africa. The solar plant was installed by Distributed Power Africa (DPA), an Econet-owned off-grid company that specialises in the building and installation of solar plants, at a cost of $2m.The system is grid tied with generator integration and will provide energy for the soft drink maker’s production facility, ensuring continuous production in a country plagued by chronic electricity shortages.