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Total touts its commitment to Nigeria
NIGERIA
TOTAL is committed to abiding by the Nige- rian government’s plan for optimising the use of domestic natural gas resources, a representative of the French major’s Nigerian affiliate has said.
Mike Sangster, the managing director of Total E&P Nigeria, said at an industry conference on November 26 that his company had pledged to honour the Nigerian Gas Master Plan. “Total is committed to the Nigerian Gas Master Plan [for] reducing flaring and monetising gas,” he said in his sponsor’s address.
“We are also committed to the supply of additional gas to NLNG [Nigeria LNG] Train 7 for [the] increase of NLNG capacity. We have signed three gas supply aggregation agreements (GSAAs), and we take our domestic gas sup- ply obligations under these agreements quite seriously.”
He pointed out, though, that efforts to imple- ment the Nigerian Gas Master Plan faced obsta- cles. “[We] are aware that challenges remain in the areas of infrastructure; legal and regula- tory framework; [and] commercial framework (pricing policy) via the National Domestic Gas Supply and Pricing Regulations of 2008 vis-à-vis the new National Gas Policy approved by the
Federal Executive Council (FEC) in 2017,” he commented.
Sangster also predicted that Nigeria would face challenges with respect to funding initiatives in the gas sector. “[As] we all know, investments in PSC [production-sharing contract] oil pro- jects are recovered from oil,” he said. “[But] no mechanism is currently agreed for cost recovery or profit-sharing for investments in gas projects.”
He acknowledged that Total was one of the biggest investors in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. “Total’s upstream branch plays a significant economic and social role in Nigeria, operating nearly 15% of the country’s production,” he said. “Nigeria, as one of our core areas of activities, is also crucial to the Total Group, accounting for 12% of its equity production. In the last five years, Total has invested approximately $10bn in the country.”
Even so, the company also wants to estab- lish itself as a “responsible” partner in Nigeria. ”This is the meaning of our motto: ‘Committed to Better Energy.’ This ambition challenges us to provide more reliable, affordable and clean energy to the world’s growing population,” he commented.
India’s Avaada Energy receives $15mn of DFI equity funding
AFRICA
INDIA’S Avaada Energy has received $15mn in equity funding from French development finance institution (DFI) Proparco to help build 5GW of solar capacity.
“Avaada Energy has received $15mn in equity investments from Proparco, a French develop- ment finance institution, for part-financing its renewable energy portfolio of the targeted 5GW capacity,” the company said in a statement.
Avaada Energy is one of India’s main develop- ers of solar PV and currently operates 700MW, with a portfolio under construction of 1.3GW. It is backed by India’s Mittal Group.
The funding from Proparco and its DFI part- ners will support Avaada at a key moment in the development of its solar platform. The company began operations in 2017.
Avaada said that the deal recognised its capa- bility to execute renewable projects and attract quality global investors. It aims to continue to seek investment from quality long-term inves- tors to grow its portfolio, which will help the country’s fight against climate change, the com- pany said.
At the start of November, Avaada won 300MW of solar capacity at a tariff of INR2.71 ($0.038) per kwh at the Solar Energy Corpora- tion of India’s (SECI) seventh solar auction of the year.
Renew Power, UPC Renewables and Tata Power Renewable Energy also won 300MW at the auction at the same tariff.
The investment follows a INR10bn ($140mn) investment in April 2019 from the Asian Devel- opment Bank (ADB), Germany’s DEG, Dutch finance development company FMO and the Mittal Group.
Proparco is supporting the Indian govern- ment’s efforts to build 100GW of installed solar capacity by 2022.
“Avaada is committed to providing sustain- able environment for future generation. We are targeting an extensive portfolio of 5GW [of] solar energy projects across Asia and Africa. Recently we have received investments from ADB, DEG and FMO,” Vineet Mittal, chairman of Avaada Group, said.
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