The Gambia: Electricity Access To Increase As 23MW Solar Plant Nears Completion
The Gambia’s plan of expanding electricity access through a mixture of energy sources including solar energy is on course as the West African nation is nearing the completion of a 23MW peak solar project.
The project, which is being funded by the World Bank, European Investment Bank and the European Union is more than 80 per cent completed.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Michael Creg Afful, editor of energynewsafrica.com, in Cape Town, South Africa, during the African Energy Week 2023, Nani Juwara, the Managing Director of National Water and Electricity Company of The Gambia stated that the solar plant, upon completion, would help expand access to electricity.
Nani Juwara said they expect that by January 2024, the project would be commissioned.
He said it is going to be the first of its kind in The Gambia and it would be connected to the national grid.
The Gambian government, he explained, is also working with the West Africa Power Pool to also develop a 150MW solar plant project in the country.
“So we are currently working on the first phase of the project which is going to be 50MW,” he noted.
He affirmed that studies had already been completed, adding that tender documents had also been done and waiting for procurement process, which is also expected to be done before end of this year.
Should the project start as stated, Nani Juwara observed that it could be launched before the end of 2024.
Touching on the access to electricity in The Gambia, he said currently, about 60 per cent of the population has access to power while a chunk of the rural folks do not have it.
It is in this respect that Nani Juwara said The Gambian government has made an ambitious statement to achieve universal access to electricity by 2025.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Zimbabwe: Former Deputy Finance Minister Convicted Of Fuel Smuggling
A former deputy minister of Finance and Economic Development in the Republic of Zimbabwe, Terence Mukupe and three others have been convicted of smuggling almost 140 000 litres of diesel.
The three accomplices are Same Kapisoriso, Ngonidzashe Mutsvene and Joseph Taderera.
According to freight news, the four are in custody and awaiting sentencing.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) proved that the former deputy minister and his accomplices smuggled a tanker filled with diesel into the country without paying duty in 2017.
The vehicle was intercepted by Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) officials at Chirundu border post leading to the arrest of the four.
“Mukupe, together with three others have been convicted of importing 138 979 litres of fuel without paying duty,” the NPA said.
“In doing so, the accused prejudiced the state of revenue amounting to $55, 591.
“The accused are in custody pending their sentencing at the Harare High Court.”
Mukupe and his accomplices connived to import 138 919 litres of diesel into the country without paying duty at the Forbes Border Post in Mutare.
They said the diesel was on its way to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), thereby making it duty-free.
While the tanker was in Zimbabwe, the four replaced the diesel with water, before driving the tanker to Chirundu where they were stopped by Zimra officials who checked the tanker’s contents and discovered the switch.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
South Africa: Eskom Opens Africa’s Biggest Battery Storage Facility
South Africa’s power utility, Eskom has unveiled what could be the largest Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project on the African continent.
In a statement, Eskom said the Hex BESS is the first project to be completed under Eskom’s flagship BESS project announced in July 2022 to help alleviate the pressure on the national electricity grid.
Eskom noted that the BESS project serves as a direct response to meet one of the urgent needs to address South Africa’s long-running electricity crisis by adding more storage capacity to strengthen the grid while diversifying the existing generation energy mix.
The facility uses large scale utility batteries with a total capacity of 1440MWh per day and a 60MW PV capacity.
According to Eskom, the Hex site is specifically designed to store 100MWh of energy, enough to power a town such as Mossel Bay or Howick for about five hours.
It forms part of Phase 1 of Eskom’s BESS project which includes the installation of approximately 833MWh additional storage capacity at eight Eskom Distribution substation sites in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape. This phase also includes about 2MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity.
“We are grateful to the various funders of the Eskom BESS project, and to our construction partner Hyosung Heavy Industries. This is proof of what we can achieve when we work as a team and in collaboration with industry and local communities,” says Eskom’s group executive for distribution, Monde Bala.
The utility explains that the BESS technology offers a versatile solution for improving overall grid performance and is in line with South Africa’s commitment to the just energy transition to a more resilient and sustainable energy future.
“The initiative demonstrates Eskom’s commitment in finding innovative solutions and embracing new technologies in preparation for the new era in the energy distribution landscape,” the company said.
“We are pioneering the implementation of the BESS technology, serving as a large-scale commercial project to validate the technology’s feasibility and benefits. The successful implementation will pave the way for wider adoption and possible export of the technology to other regions beyond the borders of South Africa,” Eskom’s General Manager for distribution, operations enablement, Velaphi Ntuli said.
“The Hex project is a demonstration of what Eskom teams can do in finding alternative, innovative and lasting solutions in addressing the country’s electricity challenges,” said Eskom’s group executive for generation, Bheki Nxumalo.
Eskom notes that upon completion of the first phase, it will implement phase two of the project which includes the installation of a further 144MW of storage capacity, equivalent to 616MWh at four Eskom distribution sites and one transmission site.
The solar PV capacity in this phase will be 58MW, it adds.
“The rollout of these technologies together with a disciplined execution of our Generation Recovery Plan which started in March 2023, and aimed at achieving energy availability factor of 70% by end March 2025, will give the country the most needed megawatts to address capacity constraints,” Eskom concluded.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Uganda: Museveni’s Petroleum Import Strategy To Drive Fuel Prices Down
A bold decision by the President of Uganda to stop buying petroleum products from middlemen in neighboring Kenya is expected to drive fuel prices down in the East African nation.
All along, Ugandan officials were buying refined petroleum products from middlemen in Kenya, pushing prices on the higher side.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni accused civil servants in the country, saying: “When we came into government, we assumed that the civil servants would deal with money, administration, procurement, and we would deal with policy, ideology, strategy and security.,”
Sadly, President Museveni said the country has been let down by civil servants who were put in charge of importing fuel into the country.
Uganda imports petroleum products of the magnitude of 2.5 billion litres per annum valued at about US$2 billion.
“Without my knowledge, our wonderful people were buying this huge quantity of petroleum products from middlemen in Kenya,” noted the President.
“A whole country buying from middlemen in Kenya, or anywhere else is amazing but true. Why not buy from the refineries abroad and transport through Kenya and Tanzania, cutting out the cost created by middlemen? Those involved were not bothered by these issues.
“I have discussed this with H.E Ruto, the President of Kenya, and our delegation is now in Dar-es-Salaam, discussing with Her Excellency Samia Suluhu,” Museveni revealed.
Museveni went on to give a breakdown of the cost of the fuel from the middlemen that Uganda has been buying from compared to the refinery prices, as follows:
Diesel:
- Middlemen’s price – $118;
- Price from bulk suppliers or refiners -$83;
- Middlemen’s price -$97.5;
- Bulk suppliers or refiners’ price-$61.5;
- Middlemen’s price – $114;
- Bulk suppliers or refiners’ price – $79
Nigeria: Kaduna Electric Loses ₦138M To Vandalism In Three Months
Kaduna Electric, one of the power distribution companies in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has recorded 172 incidents of vandalism against its electrical installations across four franchise states between July and September 2023.
The Chief Technical Officer, Engr. Lawal Aliyu Mashi, said this resulted in a loss of N138, 056,343 (US$171,742.09) worth of equipment within the period.
Giving details of the vandalism, Engr. Lawal Aliyu Mashi said 42 meters of earthing cable was vandalised at Abakpa injection substation while four 500MMS neutral incomer cables were also stolen at Katura village in Badarawa, Kaduna.
He also noted that, due to payment default, a community was cut off from the power supply, and as a result, numerous electrical components, including 174 spans of aluminium cables, 22 HT poles, 20 upriver cables, 34 cross arms, 142 channel irons, and one set of feeder pillar units, were vandalised.
In Gusau, Zamfara State, he explained that 12 spans of 150mm aluminium conductor were vandalised, and the 300KVA FECT 2 substation was vandalised, with 300mm2 single-core cable stolen.
According to Kaduna Electric’s Chief Security Officer, Col Ubale Abubakar (rtd), in its efforts to combat the spate of vandalism in its franchise, the company has stepped up engagements with security agencies, including the military, police and civil defence corps, to help with the arrest and prosecution of suspects.
He added that the company is also engaging with local authorities, including Divisional Police Officers, officials from the Criminal Investigation Department, State Investigation Bureau, and military leaders, to raise awareness about the negative impact of vandalism on its operations.
He also urged people to report any suspicious activities around electrical infrastructure promptly to Kaduna Electric offices or security agencies.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
South Africa: Corruption Remains Pervasive At Eskom -Gordhan
South Africa’s Minister for Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan has stated that despite the progress made to improve operations at Eskom, corruption remained pervasive.
According to him, the new board and executives of Eskom are turning the tide but even after the state capture years, there was still too much rot.
He said this when he appeared before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) on Tuesday for a progress update on recommendations made by the committee following visits to Eskom power stations in 2019.
SCOPA on Tuesday heard of steady progress being made to stablise operations at Eskom’s power stations, including Tutuka, Medupi and Kusile.
But Gordhan said that rooting out corruption within Eskom – and the companies it did business with – remained a challenge.
“There seems to be no limit to the greed that permeates that whole ecosystem.”
Gordhan said that the culture of corruption and this way of doing business would continue for as long as there’s a lack of consequences.
“Corruption is going to carry on unless law enforcement and the prosecuting authority put the real ringleaders behind bars.”
Eskom’s executives say they are aiming to improve the energy availability factor to 65% by March.
It’s currently hovering just below 60%.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Egypt: Natural Gas Flows From Israel To Egypt Resume
Natural gas deliveries from Israel to Egypt have restarted, after several days of no imports at all due to war-related disruptions.
Bloomberg cited unnamed sources in the know as saying the gas is coming from the Leviathan offshore field, following the end of a production outage at another field, Karish, supply from which is currently being used to ensure domestic demand in Israel.
Egypt used to import some 800 million cubic feet of natural gas from Israel before the war began. Following the Hamas attacks in southern Israel and the Israeli response, however, imports dried up.
The Israeli authorities ordered Chevron to shut down production at the Tamar field because of its proximity to fighting and told the supermajor to reroute production from the Leviathan field to Jordan.
Chevron became operator of the Tamar and Leviathan gas fields when it acquired their original operator, Noble Energy. Tamar has reserves estimated at around 11 trillion cubic feet of gas and Leviathan has twice that, according to estimates cited by Energy Intelligence.
Israeli exports from these fields to Egypt secured the country’s growing energy demand and left some for exports to Europe, from Egypt’s LNG plant. With the shutdown and the rerouting, however, Egypt was plunged in a crunch, with daily blackouts at a time of higher demand.
Now that Israeli gas is flowing to Egypt once again, the blackouts may end but exports to Europe may not resume immediately. Egypt’s first order of business would be to secure domestic supply first.
That should not be an immediate problem for Europe, however. Reuters recently reported that close to 30 LNG tankers are en route to the continent and the UK, due to arrive before the end of this month.
Egypt, on the other hand, will resume exports of LNG when domestic demand subsides, according to Eni, which has extensive operations in the North African country.
Source: Oilprice.com
Oil Prices Fall Further As U.S. Crude Oil Inventories See Major
Crude oil inventories in the United States rose by a staggering 11.9 million barrels for week ending November 3, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API), after a 1.347-million-barrel rise in crude inventories in the week prior, API data showed.
API data now shows a net build in crude oil inventories in the United States of 10.568 million barrels so far this year.
On Monday, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) stayed the same for the fifth week in a row, with the SPR inventory still sitting at a near 40-year low of 351.3 million barrels, with total purchases for the SPR coming in at less than 4 million barrels since the Biden Administration began its buyback program.
Earlier this week, the DoE announced a supplemental solicitation for another 3 million barrels of oil for delivery in January 2024.
Oil prices were trading down ahead of API data release, with Brent trading down 3.93% at $81.83 at 4:01 p.m. ET—a roughly $5.50 decrease week over week.
The U.S. benchmark WTI was trading down on the day by 4.05%, at $77.55. WTI is down nearly $3.50 per barrel from this same time last week.
Gasoline inventories fell this week by 400,000 barrels, on top of the 357,000 barrel decrease in the week prior.
Gasoline inventories are 2% the five-year average for this time of year, last week’s EIA data shows. Distillate inventories rose this week, by 1.0 million barrels, in contrast to the 2.484-million-barrel draw in the week prior, and are now about 12% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Source: Oilprice.com
Ghana: VRA’s Decision To Spill Excess Water From Akosombo Dam Averted Catastrophe– Energy Minister
Ghana’s Minister for Energy Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has defended the recent decision by the Volta River Authority to undertake controlled spillage of the Akosombo Dam which caused severe flooding in parts of the Volta and Greater Accra Regions.
According to him, the exercise was the only option to prevent the West African nation’s largest hydroelectric power dam from collapsing.
Briefing Ghana’s Parliament on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, about the exercise and measures put in place to bring relief to victims, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh explained that the VRA was forced to take drastic action due to the unusually high levels of water in the dam’s reservoir.
“If the VRA had not been proactive in spilling this year, the water coming into the reservoir would have overtopped Akosombo Dam, which would have had an unimaginable catastrophic impact on the people,” Dr. Opoku Prempeh said.
The Minister acknowledged the disruption caused by the spill but insisted that it was a necessary step to protect the dam and the people downstream.
He also assured the affected communities that the Government is committed to providing relief and support.
The state-owned power generation company, VRA, on September 15, 2023, commenced controlled spillage of the Akosombo Dam due to high inflows into the dam.
The spillage, however, resulted in flooding of some communities downstream, displacing thousands of people with some houses submerged.
As part of its humanitarian efforts, the VRA set aside millions of Ghana cedis to provide relief items to ease the burden of the victims.
Aside from VRA, both public and private institutions and individuals have made substantial donations of relief items to victims, with some radio and television stations still soliciting support for them.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Nigeria: We’re Working With NEITI, Other Stakeholders To Reconcile NEITI’S 2021 Report- NNPC Ltd.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has assured that it will continue to collaborate with the Reconciliation Committee set up by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to investigate, review and reconcile the financial records on alleged indebtedness to the Federation by NNPC Ltd. and the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC).
This is coming on the heels of calls by a non-governmental organisation for a probe of several monies allegedly owed to the Federation by the national oil company.
A statement issued by Olufemi O. Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer argued that the claims by the NGO were baseless, considering the fact that NEITI itself had dismissed many of the allegations in the said 2021 report, following a series of engagements with NNPC Ltd.
According to NNPC Ltd, at the outset of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, it was made to sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) imported into the country at one-third of its value, a development that gave rise to an average of N400 billion monthly subsidy bills, which subsequently put a strain on its revenues and finances.
It further stated that subsidy bill accumulated to up to N3.736 trillion as of May 31st, 2023.”
With respect to gas-to-power debts, the non-payment of NNPC Ltd.’s share of upstream joint venture gas supplied to the government-owned plants led to the accumulation of indebtedness of N174.07 billion by the Federation.
“Similarly, the receivables due from the federation to NNPC Exploration & Production Limited (NEPL) as of 31st May 2023 amount to $712 million (equivalent to N309.07 billion at N434.08/US$1) for revenues not remitted to NEPL but paid into the Federation account. While the Federation owed NNPC Ltd. the sum of N4.207 trillion as net indebtedness, the Company was only indebted to the Federation in the sum of N2.852 trillion, made up mainly of outstanding Good and Valuable Consideration (GVC) in respect of government upstream divestments, royalties, and Petroleum Profit taxes (PPT).
“We would also like to use this opportunity to clarify that over the years, our relationship with NEITI has been very cordial, as seen in August 2020 when we became an EITI supporting company, joining a group of over 65 extractive companies, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), commodity traders, financial institutions and industry partners committed to observing the EITI’s supporting company expectations,” it said.
“NNPC Ltd.’s book remains open to all our stakeholders as we remain committed to delivering value to Nigerians with integrity and as espoused in our principles of Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE), the bulwark of the Mele Kyari leadership of the company,” the statement concluded.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: NPA To Begin Bitumen Regulation In January 2024
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) is set to commence the regulation of the importation, storage, processing and marketing of bitumen in the country effective January 2024.
The new regulatory framework, which will have inputs from the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA) and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), seeks to streamline the bitumen supply chain and to ensure compliance with national quality standards.
The new framework spells out who qualifies to obtain a licence, the national standards for bitumen and guidelines to follow for the supply of the product among other things.
The Director of Economic Regulation and Planning at NPA, Mrs. Alpha Welbeck, who disclosed this at a media briefing in Accra, urged industry players to use the remaining period of 2023 to regularise their operations with the Authority.
“Existing bitumen facilities and new entrants will have to acquire a licence before they will be allowed to operate in the industry beginning 2024,” she emphasised.
The bitumen industry possesses enormous potential to contribute to the growth and development of the economy due to its use in road construction.
Although bitumen is a petroleum product, little has been done in terms of monitoring and regulating the product compared to other petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and LPG.
By way of background, in 2014, a study was carried out to ascertain the supply chain practices and to obtain some baseline information on happenings in the bitumen industry.
Following the study, the NPA, together with stakeholders such as the GHA, GRA–Customs Division, GSA and some existing players, collaborated in the development of guidelines for the supply of bitumen, culminating in a new regulatory framework set to be implemented in January 2024.
A public notice is set to be issued on the requirements for obtaining a licence in the coming weeks to enable existing players and new entrants alike to take the necessary steps in regularising their operations ahead of the 2024 deadline.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: ECG Begins Nationwide Exercise To Check Integrity And Readings Of Post-Paid Meters
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the power distribution company responsible for southern Ghana, has begun an exercise to verify the integrity of all post-paid meters and their readings within its operational areas.
The exercise, dubbed: ‘Operation Fix the Bill & Pay the Bill’, started on Monday, November 6, and is expected to end on December 11, 2023.
The power distribution company aims to build confidence in the bills it delivers to customers, capturing the consumption readings to be sure they sync with what ECG agents have been reading, to be able to produce actual bills and collect arrears owed by customers.
This comes on the back of recent lamentations by some customers of ECG that they are being over-billed by the power distributor.
Some of the customers lodged official complaints to the regulator, Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), to intervene to address their concerns.
Consequently, the regulator wrote to ECG to draw their attention to the issue.
In a press statement issued on Monday, ECG said all regional and district offices would operate with a lean staff to provide essential services to customers during the exercise period.
This, according to them, is to enable total participation by top management and staff.
“ECG wishes to state that the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission’s LI (2413) gives us full access to all our installations, therefore customers and the general public are being advised to cooperate with ECG to carry out our mandate,” it added.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Uganda: Winner Of 60,000 BPD Refinery Project Bid To Be Announced Soon
Uganda is expected to announce the winner of the bid for its new 60,000 barrel per day (bpd) oil refinery project this month, the country’s Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, Dr. Ruth Ssentamu Nankabirwa, has said.
Four companies submitted bids for the project which will be the country’s first oil refinery.
The East African nation is expecting its first oil by 2025.
“The refinery is supposed to receive 60,000 barrels of crude oil every day. I hope out of the four that we have, one will convince us they will fast-track its development,” Nankabirwa said as quoted by Reuters.
Nankabirwa also said the Ugandan government was worried that talks with Chinese insurance company, Sinosure, to help finance the 1,445-kilometre (898-mile) East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) were taking too long.
She said Sinosure was not moving at the speed that Uganda required, with the Chinese company suggesting it would only announce its final decision on the project by June next year, potentially too late.
“We need just about US$3 billion to conclude the financing of this crude pipeline and the more we delay, the more expensive the project will become,” Nankabirwa said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Chevron Negotiates 15-Year LNG Supply Deals With European Buyers
U.S. supermajor Chevron is in talks to supply LNG to Europe in deals of up to 15 years as European buyers have moved from spot and short-term supply to longer-term deliveries after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a Chevron executive has told Reuters.
“European customers want medium-term deals in the up to 15 years space and we’re working on some commercial deals,” Colin Parfitt, head of Chevron’s trading, shipping and pipeline operations, told Reuters.
Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the halt of most Russian pipeline gas supply to many European countries, European customers largely preferred LNG supply deals of up to five years or to buy cargoes on the spot market, according to Parfitt.
Now that Europe is relying much more on LNG for its gas supply, the longer-term deals aren’t taboo anymore despite the EU’s net-zero targets and concerns about emissions in the LNG supply chain.
Chevron is expected to supply most of the LNG to Europe from U.S. export terminals.
Qatar, another major LNG exporter apart from the United States, last month signed agreements with three European majors to deliver LNG to Europe from its expansion projects expected to come online in 2026.
QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies signed two long-term LNG agreements under which Qatar will supply up to 3.5 million tons per year of LNG to France for 27 years beginning in 2026.
QatarEnergy also signed another 27-year agreement to ship LNG to Europe by agreeing to deliver cargoes for Eni in Italy beginning in 2026. Under the deal, QatarEnergy and the Italian major will deliver LNG to FSRU Italia, a floating storage and regasification unit located in the port of Piombino, in Italy’s Tuscany region.
Prior to the Eni deal, Qatar announced an agreement with Shell to deliver LNG to the Gate LNG terminal in the port of Rotterdam.
Source: Oilprice.com