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A shareholder in the 300MW Cap des Biches IPP plant has alleged that former electricity minister Samuel Sarr had made “questionable use” of $3.3m of company funds, writes Waly Dione Faye in Dakar.

Centragrid, the project company for developer African Transmission Corporation (ATC), has commissioned the second phase of its Nyabira solar PV plant in Zimbabwe, in a significant step for a country that is hoping IPPs might help to solve an enduring power crisis. The Centragrid Nyabira plant is Zimbabwe’s first utility-scale solar project wholly funded by domestic capital. ATC founder and director Victor Utedzi spoke to African Energy about the challenges overcome by the project’s second phase and the developer’s plans for phase three.

Miners are proving an additional source of demand for utility Compagnie Ivoirienne d’Electricité (CIE), with two large gold projects recently opting for significant grid offtake instead of developing the large on-site commercial and industrial (C&I) power plants seen in other West African mining jurisdictions.

Washington, DC-based grid management specialist SparkMeter has signed a deal for Somali utility Blue Sky Energy to use its smart meters and grid management technology in a pilot programme. SparkMeter already has schemes with two other Somali utilities, Caabudwaq Electric Company and National Energy Corporation of Somalia (Necsom).

Explosives and chemicals company AECI’s 4MW commercial and industrial (C&I) solar PV plant in Johannesburg has started operations. The project is part of AECI’s four-phase programme, launched in 2021, to generate solar power across various manufacturing sites.

Zambia’s Energy Regulation Board has approved drastic measures to reduce loadshedding, including a significant ‘temporary’ increase in retail tariffs, use of the national fuel reserve and emergency funds, and greater power imports from the Southern African Power Pool.

Zimbabwe’s sovereign wealth fund the Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF) has backed a $350m joint venture between state utility Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) and Jindal Africa Investments to refurbish the Hwange coal-powered plant. The refurbishment is a potentially important step in efforts to ease Zimbabwe’s power supply deficit, with the country experiencing power outages lasting up to 12 hours a day.

Following a hydrocarbon exploration and production agreement signed by the Somali Petroleum Authority and the Turkish Petroleum Corporation in July, a seismic research ship has now been sent from Istanbul to explore three offshore blocks in the Horn of Africa, protected by two Turkish frigates. Ankara has also signed a memorandum of understanding with São Tomé and Príncipe which could lead to similar activity there.

An internal report by Zambia’s Meteorological Department seen by African Energy has warned that a plan to take water from the Luapula river in the north and pump it to the hydroelectric plants on the Kafue river in the south could cause severe harm to the ecosystem.

CrossBoundary Energy has purchased Caledonia Mining Corporation’s Blanket Mine solar PV plant in Gwanda, Zimbabwe, adding the new asset to its ever-growing renewable energy portfolio in Africa.

While local institutional financing for renewable energy remains limited in Zimbabwe, the landscape is changing. In September, Old Mutual Zimbabwe (OMZ), United Nations agencies and the government launched a $100m Renewable Energy Fund (REF) to finance and develop renewable energy projects.

Zambia’s Energy Regulation Board (ERB) is due to decide on 11 October whether to raise electricity prices by 56% in order to pay for more power imports from neighbouring countries. Key stakeholders are arguing once again in favour of a sharp increase in rates, just weeks after a similar plan was abandoned. Due to severe droughts, Zambia is experiencing one of the worst power outages in its history, with households having rolling power blackouts of up to three consecutive days.

Six Wärtsilä 32 engines will power the remote, under-construction Boto gold mine at Lélou in Senegal’s south-eastern Kédougou region. Casablanca-listed Managem acquired the mine from Canada’s Iamgold in April 2023, as part of a wider acquisition of the Toronto-headquartered miner’s west African portfolio.

Zambian IPP Ndola Energy Corporation has extended the O&M deal for Wärtsilä engines as its 105MW HFO plant continues a decade-long arrangement. The IPP has become vital to Zambia’s electricity supply, at a time when the country’s hydroelectric power (HEP) plants are suffering a dramatic fall in output due to drought.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) has signed an MoU with master city developer Modon Holding to look at power generation and transmission projects at the planned Ras El-Hekma urban centre on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.