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Ambiguous signals from South Africa are adding to concerns that, for all the political support and its central position in the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (Pida), the Grand Inga project’s anchor client is less than certain the scheme will go ahead in its current configuration. Critics point to daunting downside risks, including heavy costs, the supply-side impact of rival schemes (including mega-projects led by the new-build nuclear programme and plans to pipe more gas from Mozambique) and heightened perceptions of political risk in the run-up to presidential elections in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which are scheduled for November.

Siemens has signed an agreement with the Moroccan government to build a factory to produce rotor blades for onshore wind turbines in an investment worth more than €100m ($112m). Company spokesman Bernd Eilitz told African Energy that the facility would produce blades which would “be among the largest single-piece composites in the world”. Blades with a length of 63 metres will be produced initially, but the plant has been designed to also produce larger blade types. Construction could begin on the plant as early as this spring, and operations are expected to begin in 2017.

It hardly needs saying that a strong South Africa is vital if a more integrated, sustainable and equitable Africa is to emerge. The continent’s second-largest economy (after Nigeria re-evaluated its GDP) is still a magnet for business; big construction projects continue to rise across Johannesburg. Throughout the country, forward-thinking South Africans retain a sense of what is morally right and also a taste for innovation. But there are also many conservative elements and vested interests – starting within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) – that are holding back gains.

Rwandan renewable energy company Ngali Energy has started preliminary construction work on the 2MW Ntaruka hydropower project in the Nyaruguru district of Southern Province. The run-of-river project, which will cost an estimated $11m, is expected to be completed by 2018, according to managing director Leonard Gasana. “This project will help stabilise the grid in this part of the Southern Province and increase generation capacity of the country as Rwanda continues to strive to reach generation capacity of 563MW by 2018,” Gasana was quoted as saying in a 1 March report in the local New Times.

Kinangop Wind Park (KWP) – owned by Norway’s Norfund and the African Infrastructure Investment Fund II, managed by African Infrastructure Investment Managers – announced in February that development of its 60.8MW wind farm would “cease implementation” after nearly two years of delays due to persistent civil unrest ran down the funds available for the project. The pair had invested $66m in equity to cover project costs. In a statement, KWP said that local groups opposed to the project first caused construction to be halted in May 2014.

Berkeley Energy, as manager of the Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF), is seeking expressions of interest from consultants to carry out a wind resource assessment for the Makambako wind project. AREF, a $200m fund backed by the African Development Bank to invest in development-stage renewable energy projects, is considering investing in the potential 50MW-100MW wind scheme. The consultant will need to supply a 100-metre lattice tower, with sensors and wind-measuring equipment, transport the equipment to the project site some 650km south-west of Dar es Salaam port, and install it.

AIIM Hydroneo announced on 7 March that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the government in January to develop, finance, build and operate several hydroelectric power plants in Gabon. AIIM Hydroneo is a 50:50 joint venture between African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) and Hydroneo Afrique, a subsidiary of France’s Mecamidi, established to develop a pipeline of small and medium hydroelectric projects in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea and Mozambique. The pipeline is expected to deliver power plants with combined capacity of 200MW and worth $500m over the next five years.

The African Development Bank has outlined plans to invest more than $1bn in energy projects in Tanzania by 2020 in its 2016-2020 Country Strategy Paper, which was approved on 24 February. The projects are expected to attract a further $1.2bn investment from other organisations. Projects expected to be approved this year include a $563m 100MW geothermal development project, the $370m 87MW Kakono hydropower project, the $27.6m Bagamoyo Rural Infrastructure Development project, and the $69m Energy Sector Reform Programme. The $660m North-West transmission grid, $138m 45MW Malagarasi hydro project, and the $86m Songwe Basin Infrastructure Development project.

Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) has invited expressions of interest for a developer or developer consortium to carry out studies, design, build, operate and own a solar project to sell electricity to EEP under a long-term power purchase agreement. The project is located at Metehara, 130km east of Addis Ababa, at an altitude of 910-920 metres, near the main local highway and with “good proximity” to the transmission grid. Prequalification criteria include having worked on at least two minimum 20MW solar IPPs, with at least one in commercial operation. Bidders must show they have strong credit backing, and can directly or indirectly arrange financing and security.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has issued a general procurement notice for JCM Greenquest Corporation’s 72MW solar PV power plant in Mbalmayo. The AfDB-managed Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa has approved a grant to fund the development activities remaining to be completed for the project to reach financial close. These include completion of an environmental and social impact assessment, and recruitment of lenders’ legal, technical and financial advisers. Bidding documents are expected this month.

Is it worth devoting time to understanding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) given that hard-nosed business people so often dismiss the motherhood-and-apple pie aspirations of big global initiatives? The 17 SDGs unveiled by the United Nations last September to replace the partially achieved Millennium Development Goals so far lack detail; the dedicated website (www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment) provides minimal information. However, the non-binding targets should gain substance as national government plans and expert recommendations appear in coming weeks. And the SDGs are emerging as a baseline for harmonising global action, as governments and international institutions work to implement the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP21)’s Paris agreement.

Energy and water resources minister Jeannot Matadi Nenga has said that at least three hydropower projects should come on stream by the end of 2017. The 9.3MW Kakobola dam on the Lukufu River in Bandundu province should be completed by Indian companies Angelique International and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, “hopefully” by the end of Q1 2016 and “almost certainly” by the end of June, though this is at least three months behind the last announced schedule. Matadi Nenga said construction had not been easy, partly because the plant had to be built on a sandy riverbank.

Persistent blackouts in Addis Ababa and other urban centres in Africa’s second most populous country are a reminder of its vulnerability to drought. But Ethiopian officials who spoke to African Energy at locations across the country anticipated major improvements to hydropower generation in coming months. A minimum two turbines of the 6GW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) will be operational by end-2016, Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) chief executive Azeb Asnake told African Energy on 26 February.

Eskom group executive for transmission Thava Govender told the Africa Energy Indaba conference on 17 February that budget quotes containing binding grid connection terms needed for independent power projects (IPPs) to reach financial close will be sent to preferred bidders from the fourth and expedited fourth rounds of the renewable energy IPP procurement programme by April. IPP Office head of strategy Sandra Coetzee told African Energy that a request for proposals (RfP) for the fifth round is expected to be issued in March.

Tenders have been issued for three projects following approval of donor financing for schemes to improve power supply in Monrovia and in Lofa County. The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning is seeking bids for the Monrovia Consolidation of Electricity Transmission and Distribution project, funded by the EuropeAid Cooperation Office. This is composed of three lots. Lot one is a three-year technical assistance programme for the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy’s Bureau of Electricity and Renewable Energy.