Page 13 - AfrElec Week 14

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
month period of free electricity supply to all customers nationwide.
ANED’s executive director in charge of research and advocacy, Sunday Oduntan, explained that the gesture was to help reduce the impacts of COVID-19 on Nigerians
“The Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) recognise the challenging effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on the economic and daily lives of our customers,” said Oduntan.
“In fulfilment of our commitments to
the nation, we hereby align ourselves with the efforts of the National Assembly and the Federal Executive Council to mitigate the hardships that are currently being borne by our customers and other citizens all over the country.
“We commend the federal legislators, the executive arm and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission for their initiative and we are committed to working with them to ensure more efficient power supply within this difficult period, as the nation battles with the ravages of COVID-19.
INVESTMENT
Sao Tome to receive $14m
from AfDB to finance energy
transition programme
The government of Sao Tome is set to receive $14m from the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group to support the
Energy Transition and Institutinal Support
Programme (ETISP).
The broad objective of the proposed
Programme is to ensure sustainable development of STP’s power system and promote green growth by supporting the implementation of the LCDP. This will involve the diversification of the country’s electricity matrix by increasing power generation capacity based on renewable energy, increasing the reliability of power system, and promoting the sustainable and efficient use of electricity.
The fund has been set to support a major part of the programme while the rest that
is needed will be supplemented by the government of this Central African country. Under the programme, Papagaio hydroelectric plant in Santo António will be renovated.
The facility has a capacity of 1MW. The new programme will also allow the hybridisation of one of the main thermal power plants based in Santo Amaro, in the Lobata district of northeastern São Tomé Island, with the addition of a small solar power plant. It will also support the implementation of an energy efficiency programme.
Within 5 years, the electricity network is projected to become more stable in São Tom. Currently, the rate of access to electricity in São Tomé and Principe is 70% due to the ageing electricity infrastructure. This situation forces companies to operate with diesel generators. Through the ETISP, the country plans to increase the share of renewable energy in the electricity mix to 50%, from the current 5%.
GRID
Egypt-Saudi power line
project bidding put off over
Covid-19
State-owned Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) is set to delay again its tender to build a 3GW cross-border interconnection with Saudi Arabia.
The delay, which is expected to last up to 40 days, the result of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.
Both technical and financial offers are expected from companies within two months.
A total of seven companies – El Sewedy, State Grid, Kalpataru, Hyundai, NCC, L&T and KEC – had been invited by the EETC to participate in the bidding process. The list
is the same as those that participated in the previously cancelled tender.
This is the third postponement so far, after previous efforts were postponed because of Saudi Arabi’s changes to its adjacent Neom project
EETC Head Sabah Mashali said a consulting company was chosen to carry out the marine survey of the route of interconnection project between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, after modifying it to take into account the Neom project.
The total value of electrical interconnection investments between Egypt and Saudi Arabia stands at $1.6bn.
The share on the Saudi side is $1bn, with each country bearing the value of the work done on its land, he added.
Week 14 09•April•2020
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