Search results

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has issued a revised decision on Eskom’s tariffs, after a previous decision was set aside in a High Court judgement last year.  In a decision announced in late January, the regulator approved a plan to allow Eskom additional revenue totalling R4.75bn ($322m) for 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17 via the regulatory clearing account (RCA).

The World Bank Group (WBG) has released more details about the $64.2m first phase of its Liberia Electricity Sector Strengthening and Access Project. The WBG’s International Development Association is proposing a $44m loan and $15m grant for the project. Japan is funding $2.7m and a further $2.5m is expected from the Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme. Liberia’s government is aiming for universal access to electricity by 2030 through its National Electrification Strategy, which envisions the population being supplied by both on- and off-grid technologies.

The European Investment Bank has granted €38.5m ($47m) for a renewable energy project and to improve flood management in Ouagadougou, as part of its initiative to support Burkina Faso’s fight against climate change.

The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Renewable Energies has extended the submission deadline for the Small-Scale Solar PV Tender Round IV  project. Proposals were initially due by 9 February, but are now expected by 25 March. The programme aims to develop 70MW of solar PV plants.

Tullow Oil has brought back the Maersk Venturer drillship for its planned development drilling at the TEN and Jubilee fields, with a conditional letter of award announced on 4 February. Maersk Drilling said the contract would last around four years with an expected start in Q2 2021 and an estimated value of $370m. The drillship has been warm-stacked in Las Palmas since finishing a drilling campaign in Ghana for Tullow in mid-2020.

AIM-listed Savannah Energy’s Accugas subsidiary has signed an agreement with Egypt’s Mulak Energy to supply gas to Mulak’s CNG project, which aims to replace diesel in generators used by industrial clients. The gas sales agreement envisages the supply of gas from Savannah’s Uquo field for an initial two-year period on an interruptible basis, then five years on a firm contract basis.

President Muhammadu Buhari finally responded to popular concerns over security by replacing his military top team on 26 January. With the economy hobbled by low oil prices and coronavirus, he has allowed a little more economic flexibility, although it remains to be seen whether his costly defence of the naira’s inflated value will be replaced by the foreign exchange market unification favoured by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

Revised in February 2021, this map provides a detailed overview of the power sector in Côte d’Ivoire. The locations of power generation facilities that are operating, under construction or planned are shown by type – including liquid fuels, natural gas, gas and liquid fuels, biomass, coal, hydroelectricity, solar (PV) and hybrid. Existing and future transmission and distribution lines are included ranging from 90kV to 400kV. Actual and planned cross-border interconnectors are also shown including lines to Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana. Power generation data was drawn from our African Energy Live Data platform, which contains project level detail on power plants and projects across Africa. The map is available as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.

President Tshisekedi’s successes in outflanking his powerful predecessor Joseph Kabila give hope that a more inclusive economic recovery is possible. But while investors look again at opportunities around the vast country, and the president has high hopes for mega solar schemes and Grand Inga, DRC remains problematic, write Jon Marks and François Misser.

Renergen has contracted three companies to carry out engineering studies for Phase 2 of its Virginia gas project in Free State. Saipem will carry out FEED studies for the development of the downstream liquid natural gas and liquid helium processing facilities, while EPCM Holdings, which is currently constructing Renergen’s Phase 1 gas gathering pipeline, has been awarded the FEED contract for the development of the Phase 2 gas gathering pipeline.

Engie has merged its Africa business into its Middle East, South and Central Asia, and Turkey unit. The French utility said it would focus on just Egypt, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa, where it already has sizeable operations. The combined business unit will be headquartered in Dubai and overseen by Sébastien Arbola.

Zambia’s government has said it will assume Zesco’s debt to private power suppliers in a bid to promote confidence as it seeks to renegotiate power supply agreements. A government team led by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) is renegotiating power purchase agreements with IPPs in an attempt to reduce the tariffs at which Zesco buys power from private producers. Ministry of Energy sources estimate Zesco’s debt to IPPs had reached around $726m at the end of November 2020.

The Irish government has decided there are sufficient grounds to proceed with a complaint against San Leon Energy over its past activities in the onshore Tarfaya and Zag licence areas in the disputed territory of Western Sahara. The Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), an Irish NGO, filed a complaint in October 2018 claiming San Leon was not complying with a number of guidelines for multinational companies set out by the OECD, specifically the principle of meaningful engagement with stakeholders – in this case the Sahrawi people – and the principle of respect for internationally recognised human rights.

Pembani Remgro Infrastructure Fund (PRIF) has signed an agreement with GridX Africa Development to invest in GridX Duara Holdings’ (GDH) $25m pipeline of solar and battery power projects.

South Africa’s largest coal miner Exxaro Resources will no longer invest in thermal coal, chief executive Mxolisi Mgojo said on 2 February during the virtual African Mining Indaba conference. Mgojo said that while the company would not invest in new assets, it would continue to supply the Matimba and Medupi coal power plants.