Page 9 - AfrElec Week 34

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
POLICY
Japan, US to reduce energy poverty in Nigeria
e United States of America and Japan
have signed a memorandum of co-operation (MOC) to expand US-Japan energy cooperation in sub-Saharan Africa and renew each country’s commitment to reducing energy poverty and increasing access to sustainable energy in Africa.
e US Department of State said
the signing took place at the Seventh International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7) and was signed
by Power Africa Coordinator Andrew Herscowitz and Ambassador Masahiko Kiya, Deputy Director-General of African A airs Department, Ministry of Foreign A airs of Japan.
“ e MOC builds on over three years of successful cooperation between GOJ and USG through a previous MOC signed in August 2016 to support Power Africa, a U.S. Government-led e ort to double access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, which the US Agency for International Development (USAID) coordinates.
“ e MOC will leverage collective energy investments in clean energy solutions, geothermal, energy e ciency, and support cross-border energy trade and regional power pools. e renewed partnership will advance e orts under the Power Africa 2.0 strategy, that USAID Administrator Mark Green announced in 2018, to make gains in the areas of distribution and transmission. GOJ, USAID and the broader Power Africa network will coordinate e orts to increase electrical transmission infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa,” it said.
Power Africa, the US government-led partnership coordinated by USAID to double
electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa, has two distinct goals to increase new generation capacity by 30,000 megawatts and to help create 60mn new electricity connections by 2030.
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Ghana to begin consultation with IPPs
e Ghanaian government is to begin a three- month consultation process with Independent Power Producers (IPPs), gas producers (GPs) and other players in the energy sector over ‘take or pay’ contracts and excess power supply.
e initial consultation, serve as a forum for these stakeholders to contribute to government’s energy strategy, was agreed on at a meeting between the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Energy, IPPs and GPS in Accra.
A message contained in a statement signed by Patrick Nomo, Chief Director
of the Ministry of Finance and issued in Accra, yesterday said more details about the consultation process would be given in the coming days.
e Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta presenting the 2019 mid-year budget review announced that the government would e ective August 1, 2019, only pay for energy and gas that it actually consumed.
According to him, there was the need
to reserve the ‘take or pay’ power deals that the previous government signed with IPPs because it had resulted into huge nancial cost to the state.
“All take-or-pay contracts will be renegotiated to convert to take-and-pay for both Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and Gas Supply Agreements (GSAs),” he told the House.
Morocco’s electricity
production increases by
25.1%
In the rst half of 2019, Morocco’s electricity production increased by 25.1%, up by 19.1% compared to the same period last year.
e data is provided by the Direction of Studies and Financial Forecasts (DEPF), part of the Ministry of Interior.
According to DEPF, the good performance is mainly due to an increase of 49.1% in private electricity production at the end of
the rst quarter of 2019, a er it registered a 3% increase a year earlier. It is also due to the production of electricity projects implemented under Law 13-09. which progressed by 64.3%.
e law, enacted on February 11, 2010, considers the development of national sources of renewable energies as a priority of the national energetic policy.
In the second quarter of 2019, electricity production registered a growth of 22.5%, having registered 27.9% in the rst quarter of the same year.
Net Energy Gain (NEG) registered a growth of 5.3% in the rst half of 2019 a er it was only 0.1% a year earlier while electricity imports fell by 92% in the rst half of 2019.
Morocco aims to generate 42% of its electricity from renewable energies by 2020. To achieve its high aspirations, Morocco
has heavily invested in solar energy through the world’s 2nd largest solar plant, the Noor Ouarzazate project and Noor Midelt I which is yet to be constructed.
e Noor-Ouarzazate complex was built on an area of more than 3,000 hectares with an investment of $400mn loans from the World Bank and an additional $216mn from the Clean Technology Fund.
INVESTMENT
Macquarie to raise
$675.4mn for green
investments
Macquarie Group has launched a A$1bn ($675.4mn) institutional placement and in a bid to nance new investments in the green energy, infrastructure and technology sectors.
Chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake said the company saw “huge opportunity”
in priority sectors such as infrastructure and green energy, citing recent projects including
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