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Saipem’s Castorone pipe-laying vessel has arrived offshore Equatorial Guinea to carry out installation work for a 70km gas pipeline to connect Noble Energy’s Alen field with gas processing facilities at Punta Europa. The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons said on 8 November the vessel’s arrival from the Spanish port of Escombreras marked the start of the backfilling project to replace declining production from the Alba field.

The World Bank Group (WBG) is inviting expressions of interest from consultants to assess the implications of retiring the Camden, Hendrina, Grootvlei, and Komati coal power plants in South Africa.

Globeleq announced on 10 December that Spain’s TSK has been selected to build the 450MW Temane combined-cycle gas power plant in Inhambane province. The award followed a competitive procurement process. Temane will use Siemens turbines, which TSK has used in similarly sized projects elsewhere.

The National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) announced on 31 December that it would formally launch its postponed 2020 licensing round covering onshore blocks in the Lower Congo and Kwanza basins on 30 April. A formal launch had been planned for May 2020 but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Domestic consumption has reached a new record of 550MW – with most demand in the main cities of Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire – compared to national generation capacity of only around 400MW from Republic of Congo’s main power stations, state Société Energie Electrique du Congo (E2C) distribution director Jules Saturnin Souka told African Energy. Solutions include installing a third gas turbine at Eni’s gas-fired plant in Pointe-Noire – expected later this year – and strengthening the national transmission and urban distribution network, for which funding has been sought.

GE has been contracted to supply equipment for the 300MW Cap des Biches power plant. GE will supply two 9E.03 gas turbines, one STF-A200 steam turbine, three A39 generators, two heat recovery steam generators and additional balance of plant equipment. The combined-cycle gas turbine power plant is being developed by Senegal’s West African Energy and will be built by Turkish EPC contractor Calik Enerji, which signed a contract in September.

As well as the three western Mediterranean blocks offered by Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (Egas), its part of the round includes six eastern Mediterranean blocks, including northern parts of the North West Satis, North West Atoll, West Zohr and West el-Arish offshore blocks, part of the Shorouk block relinquished by Eni after the Zohr development, and parts of Edison’s unsuccessful North Port Fouad and North Thekah Offshore blocks.

With the government broadcasting the potential for local content opportunities, President Macky Sall is banking on the Grand Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) field, shared with Mauritania, to drive growth following a grim period for the economy.

Karpowership’s 235MW Aysegül Sultan powership will start its switch to LNG in May or June, Asli Sürek of Karpowership told African Energy on 8 April. The ship has produced some 15% of Senegal’s electricity using heavy fuel oil (HFO) since it began operations in October 2019. The Aysegül Sultan will be sub-Saharan Africa’s first LNG-fuelled power plant. Sürek said Karpowership intends eventually to switch its entire fleet to LNG.

Namibia’s slow-burning oil and gas opening is finally picking up pace, as independents and majors prepare to drill. Is it possible that a country with no history of hydrocarbons production could become a significant player in southern Africa’s developing gas industry, asks James Gavin.

The 47MW first phase of the Kékéli Gas project, involving a open cycle gas turbine, is expected to come online in May, François Xavier of Siemens told African Energy. A second 18MW combined cycle gas turbine is expected online in December.

Like other Opec members, Algeria is promising a major conversion to renewable power, as the realities of the global energy transition register in even the more conservative oil producers. But this won’t stop Algiers ploughing ahead with a massively delayed procurement of gas-fired power or from giving under-performing state giants even more responsibilities, write John Hamilton, Jon Marks and our Algiers correspondent  

Sub-Saharan Africa has been worst hit as the Covid-19 pandemic emergency contributed to a major slowdown in new generation capacity, but analysis of projects recorded by African Energy Live Data suggests that long-running issues around financing and the slow pace of reforms have played their part in the downturn.

The impact of structural reform and the energy transition is markedly different around the continent. North Africa experienced a sharp – if probably temporary – slowdown in the growth of renewables last year, when the Maghreb and Egypt accounted for 4.3GW of the 7.7GW added on the continent, including 3.1GW of new gas capacity. 

Italy’s Eni seems gradually to be swallowing up BP’s African assets, with potential deals in Algeria and Angola building on a close relationship forged also in Egypt, Libya and Mozambique. These deals may be a sign of a deeper shake-out as European majors adapt to the demands of energy transition, writes James Gavin.