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GE and Songas have completed upgrades to GE’s gas turbines at the Songas Ubungo power plant in Dar es Salaam. The upgrade of three LM6000PA and one LM6000PC aero-derivative gas turbines aims to increase the plant’s efficiency and reliability. Upgrades to the gas turbines were carried out under a multi-year agreement signed with Songas in 2017.

The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) on 29 October released the Roadmap for Eskom in a Reformed Electricity Supply Industry 2019 report, which claims to propose “bold actions” and to be “the largest institutional transformation that South Africa has undertaken in a strategically important area in recent history”. The report outlines many previously announced policies, including the functional unbundling and legal separation into subsidiaries of Eskom’s generation, transmission and distribution functions, and efforts to improve operational performance, governance and transparency.

India’s Reliance Exploration & Production and Total signed agreements on 30 May for the sale of Reliance’s 76% interest in Mauritius-incorporated petroleum marketer Gulf Africa Petroleum Corporation (Gapco). The minority shareholder is also selling its stake to Total.

A wave of strikes, adding to the localised protests across the country over social and economic issues, says much about the current mood in a North African state that has so far resisted the galvanic change that marked the early months of the Arab Spring.

The Public Utilities Corporation invites expressions of interest by 29 September from consultants to carry out a feasibility study and detailed design for the proposed Grand Anse Dam on the archipelago’s main island of Mahe. The contract is to be financed by the African Development Bank as part of the Mahe Sustainable Water Augmentation Project.

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation subsidiary Nigerian Gas Company is seeking prequalification bids for three pipeline contracts

Chevron subsidiary Chevron Mauritania Exploration Limited has reached agreement to acquire a 30% non-operated working interest in offshore blocks C8, C12 and C13 from Kosmos Energy. Kosmos is preparing to drill a well on the Tortue prospect, using the Atwood Achiever drillship. Chevron will not initially fund the well, but retains the option to participate in Tortue after the transaction is completed. Kosmos retains a 60% interest in the blocks and remains the operator, while state oil company Société Mauritanienne des Hydrocarbures et du Patrimoine Minier has a 10% carried interest.

London Stock Exchange-listed Ncondezi Energy Ltd announced on 23 October that it has signed a subscription agreement and shareholders’ agreement with GridX Africa Development and GridX Africa AssetCo to finance development of a 400kWp off-grid solar plant with a 228kW, 912kWh battery for a hotel in Mozambique. A 165kVA diesel generator will provide back-up power. Commissioning is expected within eight months and the plant will generate around 660MWh/yr.

As Angola plans to raise output to 2m b/d, Total is looking further ahead, launching the Pazflor oil development on the prolific Block 17, writes Thalia Griffiths. Block 17 operator Total has awarded the main contracts for the Pazflor oil development, due on stream in 2011.

Senegal’s Commission de Régulation du Secteur de l’Electricité on 5 April announced the results of a tender to build two 60MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plants at Kahone and Touba. The tender was launched under the mandate of the World Bank Group (WBG)-backed Scaling Solar initiative. Both projects were awarded to French utility Engie and asset manager Meridiam, who bid €0.038016 ($0.0468)/kWh for the plant in Kahone and €0.039831/kWh for Touba. The tariffs will increase by 1.2%/yr.

Tullow Oil says it is moving its focus away from costly deep-water exploration and looking to less expensive prospects while it waits for new cash flow from the TEN development offshore Ghana in 2016. The announcement coincided with news that the Frégate well offshore Mauritania had delivered only modest success, opening a new oil play in the Late Cretaceous Turbidites at a cost of $200m. Tullow said Mauritania was just one of six exploration campaigns the company was pursuing and it would focus its near-term efforts on Norway and East Africa.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has set out its latest policy towards Democratic Republic of Congo in a 2013-17 Country Strategy Paper released on 18 July, which places a heavy emphasis on developing hydroelectric power and other renewables, for domestic and regional consumption. The AfDB said it “continues to play the lead role among the donors for the Inga 3 Project by strengthening co-ordination of [technical and financial partner] TFP contributions and the financing of supplementary studies and major capacity building and advisory needs related to the structuring of the Inga site development in the form of a [public/private partnership] PPP”.

Israeli diamond magnate Beny Steinmetz’s BSG Resources (BSGR) is preparing arbitration proceedings against the government of Guinea and President Alpha Condé, after Conakry revoked its licence for the Simandou iron ore deposit. BSGR said in a statement that it was initiating arbitration with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. Guinea stripped BSGR and its joint venture partner Vale of their rights to part of Simandou in April after a government committee concluded that BSGR had paid bribes. BSGR has denied any wrongdoing.

Following its success at drawing in cheap financing and qualified bidders for the 160MW first phase of the 500MW Ouarzazate independent power project (IPP), Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (Masen) has issued prequalification bids to install another 300MW at the southern site.

Tunisia and Morocco look to gas for increased capacity