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PETER BROTHERHOOD: Gabon FPSO turbine gensets; WARTSILA: Namibia presence confirms regional ambitions; WOOD GROUP: Nigerian GT order

Engineering consultancy Parsons Brinckerhoff is building up its southern Africa and mining industry personnel, seeing a substantial business opportunity from coal-to-power and other minerals-related projects in the electricity-starved region. In recent appointments that PB believes will help expand its already substantial sub-Sahara business, Gavin Young has moved from being Johnson Matthey plc’s South Africa managing director to head PB’s expanding Craighall, Johannesburg-based operation, while mining and nuclear specialist Nick Edmunds has come from 17 years with Wardell Armstrong as director of mining. Edmunds’ role, the company said, “will enable PB to marry its power generation business with a growing requirement for mining services.”

Swedish independent power plant developer Nykomb Synergetics has signed a contract with Société Nationale d'Éléctricité du Sénégal (Senelec) for the construction of a 125 MWe coal-fired power plant in the village of Sendou, 35km south-east of Dakar.

Developer CIC Energy Corporation is blaming tough market conditions for delays in its coal-to-power (CTP) scheme, mainly to supply South Africa from a major Botswana coal field, but still sees the Mmamabula Energy Project (MEP’s) first phase starting commercial operations by Q4 2012/Q1 2013.

Construction has begun on a long-awaited transmission line connecting Côte d’Ivoire and its north-eastern neighbour Mali, which forms an important link in the nascent West African Power Pool (AE 105/3).

Two consortia led by US and French rivals Westinghouse and Areva have submitted bids to Eskom for the first of a series of planned nuclear power plants (AE 131/7, 116/9). Bids for the first 3,000MW-3,500MW plant, dubbed Nuclear 1, were submitted at the end of January

President Girma Woldegoirgis formally inaugurated the start of the main construction work on the 1,870MW Gilgel Gibe 3 hydroelectric project on the Omo River on 24 January (AE 123/1). The president said the project, being built by Italy’s Salini Costruttori, would help to meet growing domestic demand and enhance cross-border electricity trading with neighbouring countries.

Iceland’s Reykjavik Energy Invest (REI) has signed an agreement with Djibouti Energy Company (DEC) to build a geothermal power plant as part of the Asal Rift Geothermal Project (ARGP). The plant is expected to start production in 2012, and will replace the present diesel-generated electricity with power from a renewable source.

The Hitachi group awarded South African construction and engineering group Murray & Roberts the boiler construction contract for Eskom’s planned Medupi and Bravo coal-fired power plants.

South Africa’s urgent requirement for power supply, shared by many other African economies where sustained growth has added to energy demand, will produce a range of responses – some of them pushing SA’s usually financially conservative leaderships towards private financing solutions.

Portugal’s Soares da Costa is to finance, build, own and operate 12 small hydropower plants with a combined capacity of about 30MW, at a total cost of around 3m ($4.4m). Fernando Nogueira, the company’s director in São Tomé, said STP’s total installed capacity would be quadrupled once all 12 plants were in operation. Under the project, Soares da Costa will also operate two existing small hydro schemes. Construction of the first plant – Roca Bombaim, with an installed capacity of 4MW – was launched at a ground-breaking ceremony held on 23 January.

Egypt plans to launch a tender later this month for offers to build its first nuclear reactor, the official MENA news agency reported. “The nuclear energy agency will in February launch an international tender for offers to build Egypt’s first nuclear reactor worth $1.5 to $1.8bn,” MENA said. “The type of reactor and its constructor will be chosen according to international safety standards and reputation as well as costs,” MENA said. “The offer is open to all countries.” The reactor is expected to be built at Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast, west of the port of Alexandria.

UK-based developer IPSA Group Plc has signed a memorandum of co-operation with the South African government’s Central Energy Fund (CEF) to supply a power plant for the Coega Industrial Development Zone outside Port Elizabeth. The agreement clears IPSA to proceed with its project for a 1,600MW combined-cycle gas turbine generating facility at Coega,

DR CONGO: More Chinese drop in; MOROCCO: More private wind power from DLM; MOZAMBIQUE: Brazilians to build Mphanda Nkuwa; NAMIBIA: Uranium miner plans 12MW heat from acid plant

China has signed an agreement with Gabon to lend CFAfr37.2bn ($83.1m) towards the cost of the Grand Poubara scheme. The loan deal, signed on 25 January by Finance Minister Paul Toungui and Chinese ambassador Hxue Jinwei provides for a loan, bearing 3% interest over a 20-year term, with a grace period of seven years.