Page 10 - AfrElec Week 29

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
HYDRO
Tanzania to start
construction of Rufiji
hydropower project
Tanzania is preparing to start construction
on its Ru ji hydropower project later this week. e $3bn project will be kicked o
by Tanzanian President John Magufuli on
July 26. Once the project is completed, it is expected to produce 2,115 MW of electricity, spurring broader socioeconomic growth in the country. e scheme comes a er Magufuli pledged during his presidential campaign in 2015 to step up development of Tanzania’s energy sector.
e project is based on a plan that was rst announced in 1980 but took 39 years to come to fruition owing to resource constraints, Hassan Abbasi, the director of the Tanzania Information Services Department and chief government spokesperson, said.
TRANSMISSION
South Sudan planning
to import power from
neighbouring countries
South Sudan is planning to speed up
the implementation of several bilateral agreements reached with neighbouring Uganda and Ethiopia on transmission of power to its border areas. South Sudanese Minister of Energy and Dams Dhieu Mathok said this was aimed at boosting the country’s economic recovery.
Mathok said South Sudan had already reached an agreement with Uganda to connect the border towns of Kaya, Nimule and Kajo Keji. e two countries are now nalising a power-purchase agreement (PPA) that will enable transmission of electricity from the
600-MW Karuma dam in Uganda.
Mathok also disclosed that the electricity
transmission line from Karuma to Nimule- Juba was being funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
“We signed the MoU and translated it into bilateral agreement and we are now supposed to sign the power-purchase agreement because Uganda said that they will take responsibility for the costs but they will recover their money from the [tari ] collection,” Mathok told media in Juba.
According to Mathok, the border electri cation project was initiated by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir in an e ort to support the resettlement of refugees living in Uganda a er eeing con ict in South Sudan in 2013.
RENEWABLES
Egyptian players sign co-operation agreement on exploring geothermal potential
Egypt’s South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding, the New and Renewable Energy Development and Use Authority and the National Institute of Astronomical and Geophysics Research have signed a three-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) for geothermal energy. is comes as the country targets an increase to 20% for renewables in its power generation mix.
MIGA issues guarantees
to Atlantica for solar plant
operation
e Multilateral Investment Guarantee
Agency (MIGA) has issued $98.6mn in guarantees to Atlantica for the ownership and operation of the 100-MW KaXu Solar One solar power plant in South Africa.
e plant, which is located in the Northern Cape Province, has been in operation since 2015. It was awarded in 2011 as part of the rst round bid window of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP).
MIGA will provide protection from breach of contract, future returns and investments into the project.
Zimbabwe grants solar
licence to former Eskom
executive
Zimbabwe has awarded a deal to build
a 100-MW solar power plant to former Eskom acting CEO Matshela Koko. Eskom is South Africa’s debt-ridden power utility, which is struggling to survive a er years of mismanagement and cost overruns at its power plants. But Zimbabwean Minister of Energy Fortune Chasi said his country’s government was not concerned about allegations involving Koko at Eskom.
Earlier this year, Koko was reported to have been accused of promising Swiss-based engineering rm ABB future contracts worth ZAR6.5bn if it subcontracted work at the Kusile power station to Impulse International. e latter company is partially owned by
his stepdaughter. Both Koko and Impulse International have denied the allegations.
ABB is one of 11 international engineering rms reported to be under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit for their role
in the looting of about ZAR139bn during construction of power units at Medupi
and Kusile. e move comes as Zimbabwe urgently seeks new investors to add power to the national grid. e country is experiencing power outages of up to 18 hours per day.
Matshela Energy’s solar plant will be built in Gwanda, with the licence for the project covering a period of 25 years.
“What is important about this deal is that Matshela Energy has the requisite expertise in energy given its experience in South Africa. We need investors in our country, more so in energy because we are in a crisis,” Chasi said. ““ is deal is good for us because Matshela Energy will bring in an investor from the US. So our country is going to bene t and the people in that area are also going to bene t through employment and development.”
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Week 29 24•July•2019