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Moroccan plans to build regasification plants to supply Onee’s existing and planned CCGT power stations have been mooted for more than a decade, but could now finally be moving ahead, with government commitments to build an LNG import unit at Nador, with other schemes to follow.

Electricity sector reform is high among new Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s much-trailed ‘100 day deliverables’, but the challenges of delivering improved services remain enormous in an industry still impacted by years of mismanagement and graft. State utility LEC has improved its performance, funding for new interconnections offers hope of more imports and there are rumours that a powership could provide short-term supply, writes Marc Howard.

A proposal to add 300MW of solar PV in a Greater Cotonou industrial zone would reshape the small West African economy’s power sector if implemented, but analysis of the African Energy Live Data platform suggests a more incremental approach will be necessary given Benin’s rocky record of project implementation, alternative GTP ambitions and the sheer size of what is proposed compared to operating capacity.

The estimated $1bn EPC deal for the Banda and Tevet fields, which hold combined estimated reserves of 2.2tcf, is the first involvement by Egyptian players in Mauritania’s upstream and marks the revival of Nouakchott’s long-held plans to supply gas to its flagship Banda Duale power plant.

As Djibouti wakes up to the potential of geothermal and wind, and looks to the P2X potential of green hydrogen, its small and fossil-fuel dependent power sector could be on the brink of major change. An update of planned generation projects by African Energy Live Data identifies the most important plants and raises questions about how the government’s ambitious net zero ambitions can be achieved, write Camilla Nytun and John Hamilton.

The authorities have offered development support to an initial ten independent power producer schemes, in a policy shift designed to enhance the bankability of IPP projects and encourage more private sector players to contribute to Zimbabwe’s faltering electricity generation infrastructure. African Energy examines the new scheme and looks at the state of power generation throughout a country where peak demand outstrips available supply – a situation that has lately been worsened by declining water levels at the Kariba Dam.

Commissioning of Geometric’s 141MW Aba gas-to-power plant adds sorely-needed on-grid capacity.  Selling to its own ringfenced distribution network, Aba also points to a potential new model of vertical integration. Meanwhile, the Tinubu government’s bold macro reforms have contributed to a significant economic crisis. It is nonetheless pushing on with efforts to repay $2.16bn owed to IPPs, although some question where the money will come from, write Leonard Lawal in Lagos and Marc Howard.

A first cargo of liquefied natural gas has left the Litchendjili LNG terminal in Pointe-Noire, following a rapid development by Eni and national oil company SNPC.

C&I specialist CrossBoundary Energy (CBE) is to finance and build a hybrid solar, battery energy storage and thermal plant for FG Gold’s Baomahun project in Sierra Leone. Situated in the Valunia and Kunike Barina chiefdoms of the Bo and Tonkolili districts, Baomahun will be the country’s first large-scale gold mine.

Despite a 14GW announced pipeline of new power generation projects, 2023 was marked by the lowest amount of new-build capacity being added to the continent’s grid since 2018, according to new analysis from African Energy Live Data. Hydroelectric and solar additions came out on top, while gas-to-power schemes continued to disappoint as delays and unrealised projects clog up the project pipeline.

Yemeni-owned independent power producer Sabson plans a greenfield HFO-fired plant, as part of Somalia’s effort to increase its low on-grid capacity.

The latest version of the South African government’s Integrated Resource Plan, issued in early January and now open for public feedback, advocates the longer-term use of coal-fired power plants and reduces renewables’ role in the overall energy mix, prompting a strong reaction from industry observers, as critics claim it will set back the energy transition, writes Tonderayi Mukeredzi.

The government’s latest Integrated Resource Plan, issued in early January, provided further details of South Africa’s plans for 7.2GW of new gas-to-power capacity to replace ageing coal-fired units. LNG is central to making that happen and a contract to develop an import terminal in Richards Bay has been awarded to the Netherlands’ Vopak.

Turkey’s Aksa Energy has started installation work at the 255MW Saint Louis combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant, in the coastal city of Saint Louis, 320km north of Dakar. African Energy spoke to Aksa to get the details of the project, which was awarded directly to local developer Ndar Energies in February 2023.

African electricity markets are on the threshold of genuine reform in 2024, even if policy-makers’ grandest ambitions are destined to meet with disappointment. African Energy has examined the first data that has emerged from the third development phase of the African Union’s Continental Master Plan and found much to applaud.