Page 7 - AfrOil Week 39 2022

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Daystar provides off-grid power solutions to Nigerian business customers (Photo: Daystar Power)

He was referring to Daystar’s previously should be made available to business consum-
announced plan to increase its installed solar ers as an alternative to petroleum products, he
generating capacity from 32 MW to 400 MW asserted.
and expand beyond Nigeria into eastern and “Companies need their own power solutions
southern Africa. to drive down costs, compared to expensive
South Africa is a particularly interesting tar- grids or diesel generators,” he commented.
get market for Daystar, von Hardenburg added, Shell is currently waiting for a green light to
because demand for energy is rising so quickly shed its 30% stake in Shell Petroleum Develop-
there. ment Corp. (SPDC), the operator of more than
After the Shell takeover is finalised, he con- a dozen onshore and shallow-water oil-bearing
tinued, Daystar will seek to expand the range of blocks in southern Nigeria. Its plans for the
its offerings by offering stand-alone solar power sale, which has the potential to generate $2bn
solutions, as well as hybrid solutions that involve or more, are being held up by a pending court
both solar and natural gas-fired generators. Gas case. ™

Cameroon’s SONARA, Vitol strike

agreement on debt restructuring

CAMEROON SONARA, Cameroon’s state-owned oil refining
firm, signed an agreement with the Dutch com-
modities trader Vitol that will settle $279mn
worth of outstanding debts on September 23.
The agreement provides for SONARA to
repay the sum over a period of 10 years and
sets the interest rate at 5.5%, Reuters reported.
It serves to restructure and reschedule the two
debts the company owes to Vitol, according to
documents seen by the news agency.
The signing of the deal was marked with a Storage tanks at site of SONARA’s 42,000 bpd refinery (Photo: SONARA)
ceremony in Yaounde, Reuters added. Came-
roon’s Finance Minister Louis Paul Motaze said to the country’s supply of petroleum products,
at the event that he expected the new agreement as well as a threat of breakdown of the national
to help stabilise the state-run company, as well as banking system with regards to the volume of
other sectors of the local economy. commitments at stake,” he was quoted as saying
“The insolvency of SONARA posed a risk by Reuters.

Week 39 29•September•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7