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London AIM-listed Chariot Energy has made a natural gas discovery at the second well in its maiden onshore drilling campaign in Morocco, following disappointing results at the first well.

After launching a national green hydrogen (GH2) strategy in late 2023, Tunisia has signed memoranda of understanding with international partners for two large GH2 projects aimed squarely at the European export market, writes Dominic Dudley.

Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi has invited bids from contractors to develop a 20MW battery energy storage system (Bess) at Lilongwe’s Kanengo substation. The Bess project is aimed at stabilising the grid by integrating more variable renewable energy (RE) sources.

The main attraction for ConocoPhillips in its $22.5bn all-share deal to buy Marathon Oil Corporation is some 2bn barrels of US oil resources, but profitable interests in natural gas fields and processing plants in Equatorial Guinea are also in play.

State utility EDM has signed a deal with the UK’s Gridworks to develop Mozambique’s first independent power transmission project to connect the central and northern regions without inflating sovereign borrowing.

Petra Diamonds has signed power purchase agreements with electricity trader Etana Energy to supply its Cullinan and Finsch mines in South Africa.

NamPower has started the execution phase of its pioneering Otjikoto project, which will use an invasive shrub as fuel in Namibia’s largest biomass plant and could set a precedent for greater use of the renewable technology.

First gas is expected next year for Tanzania’s strategic Ntorya onshore play, which should significantly boost gas supply amid surging local demand, while operator APT is bullish, pointing to the huge gas resources being developed in adjacent acreage across the Mozambican border.

The Luena solar PV plant in Angola’s Moxico province has been commissioned. The plant is the fourth of seven being developed by MCA Group and Sun Africa.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) registered a further 105 power generation projects with a combined capacity of 788MW between January and March this year, lifting the overall number of projects to 1,415 since the registration process began in 2018, with total capacity reaching 7.2GW.

Canadian miner Ivanhoe Mines’ addition of 10MW at the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in DRC fits into a wider plan to add 200MW thermal capacity to compensate for Snel transmission network bottlenecks.

Re-elected amid some controversy for a second term, President Félix Tshisekedi, is promising accelerated reform, while multilateral officials and ambitious executives are again heavily focused on making the ‘transformational’ Grand Inga hydroelectric megaproject work, and miners looking to better exploit global-scale geology are structuring innovative C&I schemes. But enthusiasm about DRC should always be tempered with realism as its politics remain sulphurous, domestic conflicts murderous, and energy and other economics complex.

The issue leads with Libya where oil sector governance is under fire as never before, with Presidential Council head Mohammed Al-Menfi asking National Oil Corporation to explain its multi-billion-dollar spending over the past two years. With oil production flatlining and gas production at risk of severe decline, Libya needs new field developments, but two of its biggest projects have become mired in allegations of corruption. With potential ramifications for all those operating across a range of sectors in Libya, African Energy has been investigating these issues and more for a series of articles based on extensive source enquiries and documentary evidence. Power coverage leads with Tanzania where two units of the 2.1GW Nyerere hydroelectric megaproject are already online and a source has told African Energy details of the remaining seven turbines to follow. Already, the megaproject is generating surplus capacity to such an extent that state utility Tanesco is reducing output at other HEP plants while it waits for demand to pick up. Oil and gas coverage leads with Mozambique – also the subject of the African Energy View – where Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s decision to pay Portugal’s Galp some $1.15bn for a 10% stake in offshore Area 4 offers further evidence of Mozambique’s LNG improving prospects, even though the Cabo Delgado insurgency hasn’t gone away. The issue leads with Libya where oil sector governance is under fire as never before, with Presidential Council head Mohammed Al-Menfi asking National Oil Corporation to explain its multi-billion-dollar spending over the past two years. With oil production flatlining and gas production at risk of severe decline, Libya needs new field developments, but two of its biggest projects have become mired in allegations of corruption. With potential ramifications for all those operating across a range of sectors in Libya, African Energy has been investigating these issues and more for a series of articles based on extensive source enquiries and documentary evidence. Power coverage leads with Tanzania where two units of the 2.1GW Nyerere hydroelectric megaproject are already online and a source has told African Energy details of the remaining seven turbines to follow. Already, the megaproject is generating surplus capacity to such an extent that state utility Tanesco is reducing output at other HEP plants while it waits for demand to pick up. Oil and gas coverage leads with Mozambique – also the subject of the African Energy View – where Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s decision to pay Portugal’s Galp some $1.15bn for a 10% stake in offshore Area 4 offers further evidence of Mozambique’s LNG improving prospects, even though the Cabo Delgado insurgency hasn’t gone away. The issue also includes a new DR Congo Risk Management Report. Re-elected amid some controversy for a second term, President Félix Tshisekedi, is promising accelerated reform, while multilateral officials and ambitious executives are again heavily focused on making the ‘transformational’ Grand Inga hydroelectric megaproject work, and miners looking to better exploit global-scale geology are structuring innovative C&I schemes. But enthusiasm about DRC should always be tempered with realism as its politics remain sulphurous, domestic conflicts murderous, and energy and other economics complex.

The chances of long-awaited LNG schemes moving ahead have been bolstered by Rwanda’s expanded commitment to battling the northern Cabo Delgado province’s enduring Islamist insurgency on behalf of the Maputo government, a move very much in the interests of the international majors planning multi-billion dollar projects. Many other problems remain to be resolved as Mozambique prepares for President Nyusi to stand down in October – in an election where the ruling Frelimo party’s candidate will be Daniel Chapo, whose outsider status points to further splits in the ruling elite.

This map provides a detailed view of energy infrastructure across DR Congo. The locations of power generation facilities that are operating, under construction or planned are shown by type – including liquid fuels, natural gas, coal, hybrid, hydroelectricity, solar and methane. Generation sites are marked with different sized circles to show sites of 1-9MW, 10-99MW, 100-499MW and 500MW and above. Existing and future transmission and distribution lines are shown ranging from 132kV and under to 500KV+. Actual and planned cross-border interconnectors are also shown including lines to Angola, Congo B, Tanzania and Zambia. An inset takes a closer look at the Inga hydropower projects. The locations of a number of major mine/C&I projects are also marked. Power generation data was drawn from our African Energy Live Data platform, which contains project level detail on power plants and projects across Africa. The map also shows open and licensed oil and gas blocks with major oil fields and block operators marked. Two insets show Eastern DR Congo (focused on the Albertine Graben plus Lakes Albert and Kivu) and the offshore and onshore oil blocks around Muanda and the Bassin Cotier. The map is presented as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.