Page 7 - AfrElec Week 39

AfrElec GAS-FIRED GENERATION AfrElec
Mozambique seeks $880mn in capital gains tax from Anadarko
MOZAMBIQUE
MOZAMBIQUE’S President Filipe Nyusi hopes that US-based Occidental Petroleum’s takeover of Anadarko Petroleum, another US company, will generate extra tax revenue for his government.
Nyusi said last week that Maputo intended to collect capital gains tax from Anadarko because that company had sold its Mozambican assets to Total after agreeing to the buyout deal with Occi- dental earlier this year. Maputo expects the US company to pay $880mn, he said.
The president was speaking after meeting with representatives of Total and Occidental in the city of Chimoio. As of press time, neither company had commented on his remarks.
This is not the first time Mozambique’s gov- ernment has issued such a demand. In 2017, Maputo instructed Italy’s Eni to pay $350mn in capital gains tax after it sold a stake in Coral South, a natural gas field, to the US super-major ExxonMobil.
Anadarko was acquired by Occidental shortly it made a final investment decision (FID) in
favour of proceeding with an integrated gas project known as Mozambique LNG. In the FID, it pledged to spend some $20bn on the development of onshore and offshore gas fields in Mozambique’s Rovuma Basin, along with the construction of a gas liquefaction plant and LNG export terminal.
Some of the funding for Mozambique will come from the US Export-Import Bank, whose board members voted unanimously last week to approve a direct loan of up to $5bn for the initiative.
The decision may have been prompted by political considerations, as Chinese and Russian lenders had also expressed interest in providing financial support for the scheme.
Meanwhile, Mozambique’s government hopes Eni and ExxonMobil will commit to another large-scale gas project in December of this year. The companies have said they are aim- ing to invest $30bn in an integrated gas develop- ment, liquefaction and export project that will be known as Rovuma LNG.™
RENEWABLES
Eskom to issue 1.4-GWh battery tender
SOUTH AFRICA
ESKOM intends to issue a tender soon for 1.4 GWhofbatterystoragecapacityatupto18sites across South Africa.
The project will consist of supplying, install- ing and operating distributed battery storage infrastructure at Eskom sub-stations across the country.
Prince Moyo, Eskom’s general manager for power delivery engineering, said the ventures would be completed in two phases.
The first consists of eight sites that will each feature batteries with 800 MWh of capacity, each to be built by December 2020.
The second phase will consist of up to 10 sites with 640 MWh of capacity to be installed by December 2021.
“Battery storage installations will assist in various ways, amongst them capital expendi- ture deferral on distribution networks, storing energy for discharge at peak times and frequency support,” Eskom said in response to emailed questions.
“We do not have a specific date regarding when the tender will be released but it will be after Eskom has received all statutory approvals
from authorities and support from our funding partners.Thisisimminent,”itsaid.
The project is being supported by the World Bank and other funders.
The announcement comes as Eskom said it anticipated no load-shedding during the upcoming summer.
However, the system is still prone to power cuts, with only 69% of its generating fleet availa- ble, compared with the target of 80%.
The company’s ability to meet power demand is crucial for economic growth. Nelisiwe Magu- bane, an Eskom board member, recently said that a 0.1% rise in GDP could result in outages as demand from industry rises.
Eskom, which supplies 95% of South Afri- ca’s power, has debts amounting to ZAR440bn ($29bn) and is reliant on government bailouts to remain solvent. It is also contending with operational issues – most of its power stations are nearing retirement age and maintenance has been poor in recent years.
Construction of the Kusile and Medupi coal- fired power plants is years behind schedule and way over budget.™
Week 39 02•October•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P7