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The Ministry of Electricity’s late July announcement that, in the fiscal year which began on 1 July, prices for mid-to-high household usage will go up by an average of 19% has been welcomed by developers hoping to move forward with wind and solar projects under the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) programme. But while developers are continuing to form consortia and to obtain the various permits needed before they can start operations, no one has started to generate power under the scheme, while questions over the convertibility of the Egyptian pound remain unanswered.

Norway’s Aker Solutions has won a contract worth more than NOK1bn ($108m) to deliver its longest-ever umbilicals system at Eni’s Zohr offshore gas field in the Mediterranean Sea. The agreement with Petrobel stipulates the delivery of 180km of steel tube umbilicals that will connect the Zohr subsea development to an offshore control platform.

An impressive number of power schemes are planned to exploit the country’s huge hydroelectric capacity, but they need an integrated national grid to run through, writes Jon Marks, recently in Luanda

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development is set to launch bidding in August for consulting services for its Wind Resource Map and Pilot Wind Power Development Programme. The programme, to be financed with a project preparation grant from the Strategic Climate Fund, through the African Development Bank, is one of the projects under the country’s Scaling Up Renewable Energy Programme.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries has invited bids by 7 August for the rehabilitation of the Bou Heurtma dam at the confluence of the El Lil and Ghezala rivers near the town of Bou Salem in northern Tunisia. The tender has been split into two lots comprising civil works for the raising of the spillway and the rehabilitation of the dam and auxiliary works (Lot 1), and the supply and installation of hydro-mechanical and electrical equipment (Lot 2).

The New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) is seeking offers from prequalified bidders for a 200MW wind farm project at the Gulf of El Zayt on the Red Sea.

Cameroon has tapped Chinese expertise and funding for two key dam projects as part of plans to triple electricity output. The Electricity Development Corporation (EDC) announced on 9 May that the construction contract for the key Lom Pangar dam had been awarded to China International Water and Electric Corporation, a subsidiary of China Three Gorges Corporation.

International oil trading and refining companies that supply Libya with much of its diesel and gasoline continue to deal with delayed payments and increasing levels of financial risk caused by the failure of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) to transfer enough money to National Oil Corporation (NOC) to enable it to pay for imports. This situation has lasted for several months and appears to be a side effect of the dysfunction which has paralysed the administration following the fall of prime minister Ali Zeidan’s government in early March and the failure to establish a credible replacement.

SE4All has some sweeping aims: to ensure universal access to modern energy services; to double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency; and to double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. National plans will channel resources into much-needed energy efficiency plans, improve cooking stoves and help to finance renewables, from big hydro to solar and other off-grid solutions. But it is highly unlikely to ensure universal access 17 years from now.

Total has added to its presence in Mauritania and Senegal with a technical evaluation agreement offshore Guinea covering 55,000km2 of deep and ultra-deep waters. In Namibia, the French major will acquire 70% of Impact Oil & Gas’s interests in Block 2913B, while in South Africa, it will acquire 77.78% of Impact’s interests in the Orange Basin Deep technical cooperation permit (TCP), once an exploration right is granted over the area. Impact will retain the other 22.2%.

Thombo Petroleum has announced the start of 3D seismic acquisition over the A-J1 graben in Block 2B, off the west coast of South Africa. The survey, by WesternGeco, aims to reveal the extent of the A-J1 oil discovery, drilled by Soekor in 1988, and to look at other prospects and leads in the graben which have been identified from existing 2D seismic data.

Having rejected joining major cross-border initiatives to develop solar power and other renewables industries, Algiers has signalled an apparent shift in policy, with state utility Sonelgaz Holding president director-general Noureddine Bouterfa on 10 October announcing the signing of a convention with the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII), “which defines the work process”.

President Goodluck Jonathan has launched the 700MW Zungeru hydro project in Niger State. Sinohydro is building the project, with funding from the Export-Import Bank of China. The project is estimated to cost $1.4bn and the federal government approved $300m of counterpart funding in August 2012. Construction is expected to take four years. Niger State has the 760MW Kainji hydro scheme, commissioned in 1968, the 540MW Jebba facility, commissioned in 1978, and the 600MW Shiroro facility, commissioned in 1990.

Protests across North Africa are being closely watched by political activists south of the Sahara, who are wondering whether a ‘domino effect’ could bring about regime change for them. After the collapse of eastern Europe in 1989, African countries saw a wave

Angola’s Petroplus Overseas plans to drill this year on the offshore Hyembe Block, close to Port-Gentil. The company signed two contracts in Gabon in 2011 that were confirmed by presidential decree last year. The company said in a news release that Hyembe contained 80m barrels of recoverable reserves in an area of 2,000km2. The company also has the Espadon/Roussette licence, which covers 4km2, to the west of Port-Gentil, containing an estimated 24m barrels of recoverable oil. Exploratory drilling is scheduled for 2015, Petroplus said.