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The addition of Senegal to the list of countries negotiating a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with G7 counterparties is an important diplomatic achievement for those countries in the developed world striving to keep the concept of just transition alive. It would have been difficult for the just transition concept to maintain its claims to moral credibility – that it is a viable route to justice in climate finance – if it could not find even one more African partner to sign up for a JETP.

The quartet of public institutions driving Egypt’s green hydrogen (GH2) development have signed eight new memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with international partners in the past month, seven of them in one session on 25 August, bringing to at least 17 the number of projects under consideration. The new participants include UK-based Actis and Globeleq, two of India’s largest renewables developers, Acme Group and ReNew Power, and Gulf-based investors Alcazar Energy, Alfanar Group and K&K Energy, plus Egypt- and US-backed Mediterranean Energy Partners.

More information has emerged about the mix of finance that will support South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). An official source from a G7 country told African Energy “there is an amount of grant and technical assistance. It is significant but not enormous.”

The global take-off of corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) is driving an evolution in contracts across the supply chain as companies push to achieve environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets, writes Dan Marks.

Morocco is to develop a legally-binding framework to exchange carbon credits with Singapore. The deal falls under Article 6.2 of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change’s Paris Agreement which permits countries to exchange carbon credits bilaterally.

Tunisia’s industry, energy and mines ministry is working on the early stages of a green hydrogen (GH2) scheme called H2vert.TUN with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ) and its Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) development agency.

Commodity trading giant Vitol is setting up a joint venture with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (Nsia) to invest in carbon reduction and offsetting programmes. Nsia chief executive Uche Orji said the new venture would provide “an enabling platform to trade carbon credits”.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed a €10m ($10.2m) local currency loan backing the deployment of 107,000 solar home systems in Benin by Engie Energy Access. The systems are expected to provide power to around 643,000 people.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on 5 July that the framework, which sets the agenda for the governments ‘just energy transition’ policy, had been finalised, five months after a public consultation document was published.

South Africa’s national utility Eskom has selected 18 companies with renewable energy projects with a combined 1.8GW capacity for land leases at the utility’s power stations in Mpumalanga. The project is part of efforts by its Just Energy Transition Office to mitigate the impact of closing coal power plants, with knock-on impacts on coal transport and mining.

Demand for voluntary carbon credits from Africa has risen sharply over the past decade, but in recent years the supply of new credits has fallen away. Developers blame a complex and fragmented marketplace, with numerous credit certifiers, exchanges, brokers and aggregated funds making it challenging to navigate.

Climate change negotiators have agreed to continue working on a proposed new international carbon trading mechanism, after failing to reach agreement at the Bonn Climate Change Conference in Germany in June. A new system under Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s Paris Agreement had been anticipated by some advocates, to replace the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) which has proved of limited value to Africa.

Construction of the Lephalale solar PV plant that will power Exxaro Resources’ Grootegeluk coal mine in Limpopo province is scheduled to start in early 2023, following approval of the project by National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa).

While western partners focus on renewable energy, Eskom chief executive André De Ruyter and general manager for just energy transition Mandy Rambharos has restated the utility’s commitment to developing new gas capacity.

Sasol and the Northern Cape’s development body are expected to complete prefeasibility work on a 5GW green hydrogen plant in September, with a full feasibility study to begin soon afterwards.