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European leaders are confronting the urgent need to diversify energy supplies away from Russia, while also somehow keeping to their commitments to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, that they made – indeed pioneered – at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, just four months ago.  African Energy examines the options and projects under discussion including gas and electricity imports and hydrogen prospects.

Norwegian and UK development finance institutions (DFIs) are backing black-owned renewables developer H1 Capital with ZAR600m ($40m) to help fund an expected pipeline of 2.4GW of wind and solar projects in South Africa.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has signed a memorandum of understanding with a coalition of local and international companies to support the decarbonisation of downstream facilities in Egypt.

UK-based private equity fund Actis has secured a “an impact-linked revolving subscription credit facility” for its Energy 5 Fund. The fund, which will target energy transition investments, closed with $6bn of investable capital in October.

In a new policy brief, the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) has identified five key areas where action is needed if Africa is to make the most of its vast wind energy potential.

Thanks to a combination of high solar radiation and superlative wind resources, the massive, largely desert zone along north-west Africa’s Atlantic coast has become a focus for huge projects in what is starting to look like a new scramble for Africa. Recent developments include Chariot and Total Eren positioning themselves to take advantage of the emerging business opportunity in the production of green hydrogen in Morocco and Mauritania. This follows close on the footsteps of CWP Global and Xlinks. Others such as Harmattan Energy are looking at the disputed Western Sahara (under a UN mandate). As the number of prospective schemes grows, so too will the pressure to secure land rights and authorisations – a familiar issue for businesses with long track records in securing upstream and mineral rights across the continent.

South Africa’s mineral resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe remains an unapologetic advocate for the continued use of coal, arguing that its importance for the economy and employment cannot be ignored. The DMRE arranged a colloquium with coal industry leaders on 1 February for Mantashe to deliver a call to arms.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on 8 February appointed Daniel Mminele as head of the Presidential Climate Task Team, which will negotiate the details of a possible $8.5bn agreement with the European Union, France, Germany, the UK and the US to support South Africa’s transition to a low greenhouse gas emission energy system.

Africa’s natural gas exporters have been warned they need to do more to track their methane emissions, ahead of the adoption of the EU Methane Strategy and in light of the global methane pledge to cut emissions by at least 30% by 2030, which was signed by more than 100 countries at the COP26 Conference in November.

The commercial use of thermolysis or pyrolysis to convert organic waste into biofuels, syngas or pure hydrogen is still experimental in Africa, although the underlying technology is relatively well-established elsewhere. Most of the 22 operating biogas power plants recorded in African Energy Live Data use other methods. Early adopters of the technology include the Ford Silverton plant in Pretoria, H2-Industries and Oak Group Holdings in Egypt, Ghana’s Kumasi Technical University and the British Nigerian Pyrogenesys-led consortium. Success for any one of them will open wide new commercial opportunities, while also helping to address pressing environmental concerns.

Germany and US-based experimental energy storage and trading company H2-Industries has obtained preliminary approval from Egypt’s General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone to develop an unprecedentedly large $3bn waste-to-hydrogen plant in East Port Said using thermolyzing technology. The project also includes a substantial power generation component. African Energy’s John Hamilton spoke to H2-I executive chairman Michael Stusch to obtain details of capacities, financing, expected pricing, and the next steps.

The global hydrocarbons industry is entering a critical period, as oil majors press on with attempts to reinvent their businesses to meet ambitious emissions reduction targets and accommodate shifting investor expectations. That is likely to lead to further retrenchment from key African markets as the biggest international players reassess their priorities, which will favour gas over crude projects. But not everyone is heading for the exit, writes James Gavin.

EBRD support for a $340m green bond to refinance Scatec’s six plants at the Benban Solar Park in Upper Egypt marks the latest phase in the maturing of the solar PV complex where the authorities are already contemplating an extension which could add hundreds more megawatts of capacity.

A new era of energy co-operation between North Africa and Europe is emerging amid a raft of export-focused projects ranging from renewables-powered electricity links to green hydrogen and data centres. Some of the plans are undoubtedly speculative but others are advancing towards financial close and construction, write John Hamilton, Jon Marks and Our Casablanca Correspondent.

Nigeria’s pledge of achieving net-zero by 2060, driven by the increased use of its gas resource and the assent of a new climate bill, is likely to require huge amounts of financing. But as developed nations turn their back on fossil fuels the plan could face a funding impasse.