Page 10 - AfrElec Week 34

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
wind farms in the United Kingdom and Taiwan.
Wikramanayake said big investor clients were looking for places to make better returns, which had prompted a shi into “alternate” asset classes. ese include areas such as infrastructure, in which Macquarie specialises.
“Around the world, you’re seeing the big shi of money to alternates in this point of the cycle,” Wikramanayake said.
As well as the placement, it intends to sell new shares to existing shareholders, a move that could raise $600mn.
Macquarie said it forecast a 10% rise in its rst-half results, but said it expects its annual result to be slightly down compared to the year-ago gure.
“While the impact of future market conditions makes forecasting di cult, we continue to expect the Group’s result for FY20 to be slightly down on FY19,” the bank said.
GRID
Egypt reviews progress of power link to Europe
Egyptian Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker held a meeting with the ministry’s senior o cials to review the progress of the electricity linkage project with Europe through Cyprus and Greece, as part of Egypt’s strategic plan to achieve economic development and energy security.
e minister is scheduled to visit Jordan next month to complete the bilateral discussions over upgrading electricity transmission lines from 220-500-kV or convert it to DC system to allow the exchange of capacities ranging from 2,000 to 3,000MW.
is will enable Egypt to export its electricity surplus to neighbouring countries, including Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq, and allows extending the network to provide electricity to Europe.
It comes within President Abdel Fattah Al- Sisi’s vision and the government’s policy that
aim at maximising Egypt’s role as a regional energy centre in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
Meanwhile, Shaker praised the e orts exerted by EuroAfrica Interconnector in the procedures of linking Egypt and Cyprus a er it has completed the studies of the project and signing implementation contracts in the presence of the Prime Minister.
He pointed out that by implementing the interconnection with Cyprus, Egypt has succeeded in laying the cornerstone for interconnection with the European Union, which will bring economic and political bene ts to the countries concerned. He highlighted the e orts to complete the procedures and necessary approvals for the interconnection projects in supporting the energy mix.
e minister said that the electricity linkage with Africa was also studied to bene t from the enormous potential of hydropower in Africa, adding that the interconnection between north and south Mediterranean
will accommodate the huge capacities to be generated from clean sources.
Saudi Arabia aims to
become hub between Asia
and Africa
e acting CEO of Saudi Arabia’s National Grid, Waleed al-Saadi, said that the company aimed to assist with the government’s Vision 2030 reform.
e company seeks to make Saudi Arabia a regional electricity interconnection hub between Asia and Africa, due to its strategic position between the two continents and its strong electric infrastructure.
Since 2000, the electric transmission network in the Kingdom has witnessed signi cant growth reaching a length of about 84,000 km.
e acting CEO announced that there are 1,093 conversion stations and 3,465 transformers with a capacity of 424,000
mega volt-ampere. ese numbers re ect the growth of the network, aiming to meet the needs of all subscribers wherever they may be.
He added that the company also plans
to shi to smart electric grids, and rely on them to manage the electricity transmission system in the Kingdom. is will make the Company’s transmission network the most advanced and technical in the region and the Middle East.
To cope with the growth of urban and economic activity and consequently the high demand for electricity, the Company’s ve- year plan (2016-2020) has adopted several capital projects that enhance transmission networks’ capacity.
SAUDI ELECTRICITY COMPANY
Nigeria to connect its grid
to eight other West African
nations
Nigeria wants to build a power transmission line that connects it to eight other West African nations, including Togo.
“We will have a 330kV line going from Northern Nigeria to Benin, Togo, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire”, said Mohammed Gur Usman, Executive Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
“Besides this infrastructure, another line with similar capacity will connect Senegal to Ghana, passing through Guinea Bissau, Mali and Burkina Faso,” he added.
To this end, Usman charged the major stakeholders in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, especially, the Market Operator to be ready to assume the task of regional player in the sector.
He said, “As the chairman of West Africa Pool, WAP, I made the WAP to dra , the directives which was approved on the 22nd of May and 22nd of December, 2018.”
Feasibility studies for both projects have already been launched and procedures have been initiated near relevant ECOWAS entities to ensure the smooth realization of related works.
GAS-FIRED GENERATION
GE, Songas complete power plant upgrades
GE and Tanzania’s Songas said they had successfully completed upgrades to the entire GE eet of three LM6000PA and
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Week 34 28•August•2019