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Côte d’Ivoire’s new power company Société des Energies de Côte d’Ivoire (CI-Energies) has given Aggreko a two-year contract to supply an additional 100MW of gas-fuelled temporary power.

While renewables projects in North Africa have been making progress – led by Moroccan solar development agency Masen’s 125MW first concentrated solar power phase of the 500MW Ouarzazate scheme – the most highly publicised, ambitious scheme of all, the Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii), is struggling to convince sceptics it can revolutionise patterns of electricity generation south of the Mediterranean and of supply within the European Union area.

State utility Zesco is seeking technical and financial offers to connect North Western province to the national grid. Work will be carried out on an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) or turnkey basis and must include construction of all of the following transmission lines and substations.

There are some reassuringly familiar international names among the successful bidders for generation plants in Nigeria’s privatisation process, but the successful consortia also contain a number of less-known local companies whose beneficial ownership has not been revealed; some firms are linked to powerful former military leaders.

The 1,200MW Koudiet Eddraouch power plant in eastern Algeria has fallen behind schedule. The project was awarded in May 2008 to a consortium of GE and Spain’s Iberdrola, which says it is still testing production units, though the 48.5 months contract period has expired.

Victoria Oil & Gas has so far connected just four industrial customers for gas from its Logbaba field in Douala but is confident of raising this to at least 15 by year-end, and is finalising a reserves-based lending facility to help fund the project’s expansion, writes Thalia Griffiths.

Cairo-based Taqa Power, a branch of Citadel Capital-owned Taqa Arabia, has announced the commercial start-up of its 11MW natural gas-fired power plant in Dekheila Port, Alexandria.

The cabinet has approved a phased decision-making approach for the new-build nuclear programme, planned by the National Nuclear Energy Executive Co-ordination Committee, chaired by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.

Denmark’s Vestas has received a turnkey order for 37 V100-1.8 MW wind turbines for Umoya Energy’s 66.6 MW Hopefield Wind Farm project in South Africa. Delivery will begin in Q2 2013, with the plant expected to be commissioned by February 2014.

Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) is requesting expressions of interest from consultants for a study looking at improving the operational efficiency of one or two steam-cycle power plants.

President Goodluck Jonathan on 1 November announced a minor cabinet reshuffle, swapping minister of state for power Darius Dickson Ishaku with minister of state for Niger Delta affairs Hajiya Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi. The move comes only two months after the resignation of Professor Barth Nnaji as power minister, after which Ishaku stood in as the senior minister on an interim basis.

The approval of winning bidders for the privatisation of generation and distribution companies was a step forward for Nigeria’s electricity industry, but the subsequent stripping of Manitoba Hydro’s transmission management contract could represent two steps back. The creation of a new Nigerian industry may yet beckon, but allegations of cronyism, if not outright corruption, in some concession areas can only add to the mood of never-ending crisis, write David Slater and Jon Marks.

Connecting the 47 first and second round Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPP) projects to the grid over a two- or three-year period is a daunting prospect for South African utility Eskom, in a country where wind and solar power generation is currently negligible.

Startup of the 126MW Tema Cenit Thermal Power Plant, owned by Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) subsidiary Cenit Energy Ltd, has started commercial operations and will receive its first cargo of light cycle oil between 22 November and 27 November, helping to tackle loadshedding that has blighted Ghana in recent months.

Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) has given Iberdrola Ingenieria y Construcción a $57.3m contract to build five new 220/66kV substations and upgrade one substation as part of the Nairobi Metropolitan Ring transmission project. The contract was awarded on 1 November and the project is expected to be completed in 18 months.