A coalition of several community-based and civil society organizations, under the aegis of Coalition for Affordable and Regular Electricity (CARE) has demanded a reversal of the privatisation policy of the nation’s power sector.
Rather, the coalition demanded that the power sector should be under democratic control and the management of workers and consumers.
Addressing a press conference, on Tuesday, the coalition Convener, Shadrach Akinbodunshe and co-convener, Ayodeji Adigun said what was imperative was massive public investment in the power sector to guarantee uninterrupted power supply to all Nigerians.
The coalition asked for a reversal of the present electricity tariff to N21kwh with no further increment.
Speaking further, Akinbodunshe stressed the importance of all Nigerians getting prepaid meters and called for an end to the payment of estimated bills by electricity consumers.
Among others, the group called for an end to any form of compelling communities to procure electricity infrastructure, like poles, transformers, aluminum conductors, for them to be connected to power.
The coalition also demanded for life insurance for all electricity workers.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Institute for Energy Policies and Research (INSTEPR), an energy think tank has questioned the silence of Ghana’s largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on the GNPC’s plan to acquire stakes in Aker Energy and AGM Petroleum Ghana oil blocks.
The West African nation’s national oil company has submitted a memorandum to Parliament seeking approval for $1.65 billion to acquire 37 percent stake in Deep Water Cape Three Point (DWT/CTP) oil block operated by AKER Energy and 70 percent stake in South Deep Water Tano (SDWT) operated by AGM Petroleum Ghana.
The deal has generated public discussion with the alliance of CSOs in the extractive sector calling for Parliamentary probing into the deal.
Despite concerns being raised about the deal, the country’s largest opposition political party has been silent on the matter.
Reacting to the opposition party’s silence on the deal, Executive Director of INSTEPR, Kwakwo Poku observed that the opposition has held press conferences on almost everything in the last four years but, surprisingly, are silent on the GNPC Aker Energy transaction.
“I would like to call out the NDC to officially tell Ghanaians what their view on this transaction is. They have in the past held press conferences on almost everything in the last four years, so it’s surprising they are very silent on a USD$1.6 billion transaction which was laid in parliament over a week ago.”
“The CSOs and policy think tanks are not an opposition to government but on such issues, people make it seem the civil society is an opposition to government. We seek to deepen the conversation and point out the grey areas for the benefit of Ghana,” he explained.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
A former CNN staff and Ghanaian Diplomat, Edward Boateng, who has been penciled for the position of Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Ghana’s premier refinery, is optimistic of dealing with the financial challenges of the refinery and making it a viable asset.
According to the former Ghana’s Ambassador to China, he has what it takes to deal with the challenges confronting TOR.
TOR is Ghana’s premier refinery established in 1963 by the first Ghanaian leader, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
The 45,000 barrel per stream day (bpsd) capacity refinery has been struggling because of poor leadership under successive governments.
Staff of refinery have had beefs with almost every Managing Director of the refinery under the 4th Republic because of poor leadership.
During the first term of President Akufo-Addo, the refinery had three Managing Directors.
Mr. Edward Boateng is going to be the fourth person to manage the refinery under the second term of President Akufo-Addo.
Speaking in an interview on a privately owned- Kumasi-based Wuntumi TV, the former CNN senior journalist and communication strategist explained that one of the virtues taught him and his siblings by their parents was the gift of problem solving.
Mr. Boateng was of the view that, though he has not had the opportunity to work at TOR, he strongly believes that the problems facing the refinery is purely financial and hopes to acquaint himself with the workers and craft a lasting solution to the problem and make it profitable again.
“For me, one of the things I always thank my parents for is that they taught us how to solve problems. We have to solve the problem at TOR and I will solve it,” he stressed.
He also cited an instance when he decided to resign from Coca Cola to join the CNN and help build the company.
According him, a friend of his impugned that he was destined to fail for that decision, but he proved him wrong at the end of the day.
“Again, when Breakfast Show was being introduced at GBC, many workers opposed it but we devised a strategy and ran a shift system to make it workable and has now become an envy for many TV and radio stations today.
“The same way was how we used strong negotiating skills to convince many African nations to accept CNN programmes. I will use the same approach to solve the problems confronting TOR and would change the fortunes of this critical national assert,” he noted.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The leadership of Ghana’s Parliament on Sunday, 8th August, 2021, paid an official working visit to the facilities of the Ghana National Gas Company Limited at Atuabo, in the Western part of the West African nation.
The delegation included Osei Kyei-Mensah- Bonsu, Majority Leader, Joseph Osei-Owusu, 1st Deputy Speaker, Andrew Amoako Asiamah, 2nd Deputy Speaker, Frank Annoh- Dompreh, Majority Chief Whip, and Lydia Seyram Alhassan, 1st Dep. Majority Whip.
The rest are Ahmed Ibrahim, 1st Deputy Minority Whip, and Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe, 2nd Deputy Minority Whip.
They were received by the Chief Executive officer of the facility, Dr Ben K.D Asante, who in his welcome address, expressed appreciation to the leadership for visiting the Ghana Gas Complex and processing plant at Atuabo.
In his welcome address, Dr Ben Asante expressed appreciation to Parliament for the support over the years and expressed the belief that the visit would further strengthen the relationship between the two institutions, taking note that Parliament has oversight over the executive and state-owned institutions.
On his part, the 1st Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, said the visit was an opportunity for Parliament to understand the activities, challenges and importance of the operations of Ghana Gas as a strategic asset.
Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, the Majority Leader, also stated that oil and gas matters are dynamic and as such there was the need for the Parliamentary leadership to be well-positioned to understand issues within the sector.
He also stated that Ghana Gas has a tremendous potential to be a gas hub.
The Parliamentary leadership was taken to the Gas Processing Plant where they were briefed about the gas value chain, operations of the gas plant, the gas infrastructural plan, gas utilisation outlook, the CSR activities of Ghana gas, work programmes of the company and the plan for a Gas Act to regulate the activities of the gas industry.
The visit was facilitated by the Government Relations Department of the Ghana Gas company Limited.
The Medupi Power Station operated by South Africa’s power utility Eskom, on Sunday, exploded but no casualty was recorded.
The explosion occurred at the Unit 4 of the Medupi Power Station at about 22:50 hours.
Eskom in a statement said: “No injuries have been reported and all employees and contractors have been accounted for.
“Emergency services attended to seven colleagues requiring treatment for shock,” the statement added.
Eskom assured the public that it would continue to provide support to the employees who might have been affected by the incident through its Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
Eskom explained that Unit 4 was on a short-term outage (since 6th August) when the incident occurred and all work on the plant was suspended with immediate effect.
The company said the incident is suspected to have resulted in Unit 5 tripping and that “preparation for the return to service of Medupi Unit 5 is currently in progress.”
The 4,764-megawatt Medupi coal station started commercial operation on the last of six units earlier this month, marking completion of all building activities.
The plant is part of Eskom’s new build program, which has been years behind schedule and run over budget.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
China has started construction work on a new US$17-billion nuclear power plant project, for which it will install Russian nuclear reactors at the Xudabao project in northeastern China, World Nuclear News reports.
The Xudabao 3 unit is the first of four units at the plant to see the beginning of construction. Russia’s Rosatom will design the nuclear island and will provide equipment.
The Russian firm will also provide commissioning services for the equipment it will have supplied.
The Russians will also provide the construction and equipment for the Xudabao 4 unit, whose construction is expected to begin in 2022.
The two units are currently expected to be commissioned in 2027 or 2028.
Construction for the Xudabao units 1 and 2 has yet to begin, according to World Nuclear News.
Last month, China had to close down a nuclear power plant in the province of Guangdong in the south because it was damaged.
The operator, however, insisted that the Taishan nuclear plant does not have any major safety issue.
A month before that, French company Framatome, a subsidiary of French energy giant EDF, issued a statement related to Taishan’s reactor number 1, saying that it “is supporting resolution of a performance issue with the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant.”
The Taishan nuclear plant could turn into an “imminent radiological threat,” the part owner of the facility, the French company has told the United States, CNN reported in the middle of June, citing U.S. officials and a letter of the French firm it had obtained.
A week before the Chinese operator of the plant announced it would shut down for maintenance, France’s EDF, which holds 30 percent in the TNPJVC joint venture operating Taishan, had said in a statement that it would have shut the plant if it were in France.
“EDF’s operating procedures for the French nuclear fleet would lead EDF, in France, to shut down the reactor in order to accurately assess the situation in progress and stop its development.
In Taishan, the corresponding decisions belong to TNPJVC,” the French company said.
Source: Oilprice.com
Zambia’s electricity company, ZESCO Limited, has commenced restoration of power supply following Sunday’s system failure that resulted in widespread power supply cuts.
In a statement, ZESCO said it has so far restored power in parts of Lusaka, Southern, Western, Central and Copperbelt provinces and will continue for other parts of the country.
ZESCO said it established that on Sunday, 8th August, 2021, at 14:20 hours, the Zambian Interconnected Power System experienced a disturbance.
This followed a sudden loss of significant power generation and subsequent separation of the entire Zambian power system from the rest of the Southern African Interconnected power system.
The company said investigations are still underway and would update the public about the progress being made until full restoration is achieved.
“The inconvenience this has caused is deeply regretted. We thank the public for their continued corporation,” the company said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has charged the newly constituted Board of Directors of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) to collaborate with management of the company and work hard to ensure stable supply of electricity to the northern part of the country.
According to him, Ghanaians are keen on having their lights on and, therefore, urged them to work towards this course.
Power supply in the northern part of the West African nation has been witnessing interruptions because of the long distance it takes in transmitting power from the South.
Most of the power plants that supply electricity in the country are concentrated in the East and West, thereby, making it difficult to wheel power all the way to the North.
In a speech read by William Owuraku Aidoo, Deputy Minister for Energy in charge of Finance and Infrastructure, on behalf of Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, during the swearing in ceremony of the new board, the sector Minister charged the board to be honest, diligent and uphold integrity.
“As a key player in the electricity value chain, I urge you to work harmoniously with management to ensure the service delivery capacity of the country,’’ he told the new board.
NEDCo is a subsidiary of the country’s largest power generation company, Volta River Authority (VRA).
The newly constituted board is chaired by Ing. Emmanuel Antwi Darkwa, Chief Executive Officer of VRA.
Other members of the board are Ms. Laila Abubakar, Mr. Musa Sadimsugru, Chief Mahama Abdulai and Ing. Samuel Boakye- Appiah, former Managing Director of ECG.
Speaking on behalf of the board, Ing. Emmanuel Antwi Darkwa expressed their gratitude to President Akufo-Addo for the appointment.
He said the board is already aware of the challenges of NEDCo, saying, “It is our responsibility to deal with them to keep the lights on.”
He assured the Minister that the board, in collaboration with management, would do everything possible to ensure efficient delivery of services to the company’s customers.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
An explosion at a petrol station has claimed the life of a teenager in Jalabang in The Gambia, leaving four others sustaining varying degree of injuries.
The explosion follows a spark at a nearby petrol selling point.
According to a statement issued by The Gambian National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), the explosion also resulted in the destruction of properties.
“It is with great sadness that the NDMA learned through our regional office in West Coast Region (WCR) that there was a fire outbreak this afternoon. The unfortunate event occurred at 14:45 on Tuesday, August 2, 2021.”
The agency further clarified that the fire was prompted by a spark which caught petrol being sold nearby.
“After the spark, the inferno that ensued became uncontrollable. The blaze resulted in damage to property, injuries and even a fatality. Thus far, four vehicles were scorched; four individuals sustained injuries and a teenager named Kawsu Kassama lost his life.
“The management of the agency conveyed their deepest condolences to the Kassama family.”
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Zambia on Sunday suffered an abrupt near nationwide blackout which lasted not less than an hour.
According to aa.com.tr, the national power utility company Zesco Limited said the power outage resulted from system failure.
“Zesco Limited wishes to inform its customers and the general public that it has experienced a system failure that may have led to the loss of electricity supply to some parts of the country. The corporation is working tirelessly to ensure that all systems are restored as quickly as possible,” John Kunda, a spokesman for the company, told reporters in the capital Lusaka.
He said the company regretted the inconvenience caused and all supply lines were to be treated so that power could be restored soon.
Among the regions that reported the blackout was the Copperbelt, which is home to the majority of the country’s copper mines, economic lifeblood for Zambia.
Further at risk was the well-being of COVID-19 patients on oxygen support in health facilities, including the University Teaching Hospital, which is the country’s biggest referral health facility.
Zambia has an installed electricity generation capacity of 2,800 megawatts (MW), of which 85% is hydro-based.
Last month, President Edgar Lungu inaugurated a 750MW Kafue Gorge Lower Hydro Power Plant that cost $2.3billion, which was said to have completely ended the southern African nation’s load shedding problems.
The Government of Ghana’s deafening silence on the impasse between Italian oil and gas firm, Eni, and indigenous Ghanaian upstream player, Springfield E&P, has been described as worrying and sends bad signal to the investing community, a survey conducted by the Institute for Energy Security (IES) has revealed.
Out of the total number of respondents who participated in the survey, 77 percent of them said the government’s silence on the issue was worrying while the 23 percent thought otherwise.
“For the huge number of persons who are concerned, they explained that because the Government issued the directive, and is responsible for managing the resources of the country, it cannot be silent on the subject matter,” a portion of the survey report read.
The report said the Government, as an interested party, should pressurise the two parties to expedite action on the unitisation directive or else it may appear as week in stamping its authority on what the law says.
Ghana, they say loses as the impasse persists and thus must concern the Government in getting the parties talking while it plays its role as the referee and the final authority.
“The respondents contend that as an independent body, though with interest, it must be seen to be enforcing the petroleum laws and regulations, while it has two at the table,” it noted.
The report said those who do not find the Government’s silence as worrying explained that they have to monitor proceedings first before passing comments on the matter.
When the respondents were asked as to which institution is most appropriate to resolve the current impasse, majority of them voted in favour of the Government of Ghana.
“Of the four, the Government was found by the respondents as the most appropriate party to resolve impasse, followed by ENI-Springfield combination.”
It went on to say that the public sees the Government as the body most capable of intervening and helping the parties to bring the unitisation impasse.
“The next is that the public have much confidence in the two (Eni and Springfield E&P) parties coming together to the table to deal with whatever misunderstanding that may exist, rather than resolving to individual approaches,” stated the research.
The result, according IES, shows clearly that when the Government and the parties engage in a more transparent manner, some result of mutual benefit can be obtained.
IES’Recommendation on the issue
A group of civil society organisations working in the extractive sector and anti-corruption institutions in the Republic of Ghana is calling on the West African nation’s legislative body to probe into planned acquisition of stakes in Aker Energy and AGM Petroleum Ghana oil blocks offshore Ghana by GNPC.
The country’s national oil company, GNPC in a memorandum presented in Parliament, is seeking approval of $1.65 billion to enable GNPC to acquire 70 percent stake in South Deep Water Tano block operated by AGM Petroleum Ghana Limited and 37 percent stake in DWT/CTP operated by Aker Energy Ghana Limited.
The GNPC, in a document presented to Cabinet and sighted by energynewsafrica.com, argued that the decision would be beneficial to the country in the face of energy transition which is curtailing investments in new exploratory activities by International Oil Companies.
However, the group, made up of some 15 civil society groups, are questioning the transaction.
The group, which accused GNPC of failing to examine the issues in the transaction properly, said, “The Memo to Parliament is a significant eye opener for well meaning Ghanaians to closely monitor the relationship between Aker and the State.”
The group said, “After analysing the proposals by GNPC and Government, we are clear in our minds that the transactions, if approved, will short-change Ghana. Therefore, we request Parliament to intervene, given that the deal has gone through all the relevant branches of the Executive, ostensibly glossing over important threats of the transaction to the country’s fiscal situation.”
Click on the link below for GNPC’s document on the proposed transactionGNPC EMT_Cabinet Presentation v31
Among other questions, the CSOs asked if the agreement between the two institutions was value for money.
“Aker claims it has invested about US$800 million so far on the blocks in a document submitted to Parliament. While GNPC claims it has verified the expenditures, it still appears inflated if juxtaposed against the amount of work done by Aker and the value of its acquisition three years ago. Aker Acquired Hess’s interest in the DWT/CTP for US$100m in 2018. Before selling its interest to Aker, Hess had appraised the field with estimated recoverable oil of 450 million barrels. In total, Hess drilled 12 wells (seven exploratory wells and five appraisals well). With that amount of work done, the highest valuation Hess got was about US$400 million in 2016 when it farmed out 40 percent to Lukoil and Fuel Trade for the entire field. Aker claims it has spent about US$420 million on five well drilled on the two blocks. In another document presented to the country’s Economic Management Team (EMT), the US$420 million relates only to the three wells on DWT/CTP. Given that the DWT/CTP cost is shared among the partners of the block the total expenditure claims for the wells could be in the region of US$600 or US$750 million compared with US$400 million by Hess for 12 wells, depending on which of the documents used. This is very high regardless of which of the information is used.”
It added: “We, therefore, request Parliament to institute a full-scale investigation into the transaction to verify the actual cost incurred by Aker so far on the Blocks, clarify the inconsistencies in the presentations by GNPC and allow for open consultation and hearing to provide opportunities for independent expert. We also urge the media to provide adequate space and time for a thorough examination of the issue in the country’s supreme interest.”
Click on the link below for the full statement of CSOsFINAL VERSION – Statement on AKER GNPC transaction final
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Sub-Saharan Africa, especially its largest oil producers Nigeria and Angola, will struggle to raise oil output through the middle of this decade, as international majors are shifting their investment priorities, data and analytics company GlobalData said on Friday.
Lack of sufficient investments and few new projects could derail Sub-Saharan Africa’s ambition to increase its crude oil production through 2025 after a difficult pandemic-hit 2020, GlobalData said in its report.
As international oil majors are reassessing their investment priorities and projects compete for less capital amid an ongoing capex discipline, Nigeria and Angola—the leading African producers in OPEC—are seeing few new projects being approved.
According to GlobalData, the two countries will see falling crude oil and condensate production from this year onwards.
At the same time, they also have a relatively small number of oil projects that would come on stream within 2025.
Sub-Saharan Africa has a lot of potential and could easily top Europe in terms of oil and gas output, Conor Ward, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, said, commenting on the findings.
“However, companies have been more cautious than ever over their investments. Some of the huge discoveries made over the past decade have seen significant delays with no final investment decision (FID) in sight: as is the case with Shell’s Bonga Southwest/Aparo, which was discovered over 20 years ago,” Ward said.
“Sub-Saharan Africa is seeing a shift of investment away from the more developed countries in the region, most notably Nigeria, and more towards frontier countries such as Mauritania, Senegal, Mozambique, and Uganda as the fiscal terms offered by the host countries are far more appealing and have a large untapped resource base,” Ward added.
Nigeria has to address the above-ground risks for companies if it wants to attract investment, the analyst noted.
Nigeria approved last month a new petroleum industry bill in Africa’s top oil producer and exporter, putting an end to 20 years of debates and delays.
International oil majors have not been flocking to Nigerian oil assets now that fossil fuels are even more fiercely competing for Big Oil’s capital plans as majors start shifting more funding to low-carbon energy sources.
Source:Oilprice.com
Norway is the country with the highest share of renewable energy in the world, according to new data.
A study by energy tariff comparison platform Utility Bidder reveals the top 20 countries in the clean energy field, as well as those which rely most on fossil fuels.
The fossil fuels measured were coal, oil and natural gas, while renewable sources were biofuels and waste, wind, solar and hydro. The figures were sourced from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
56 per cent of Norway’s total energy usage comes from renewable sources, while the UK ranks 20th with clean energy only accounting for a dismal 13 per cent.
What do Norway, Brazil and New Zealand have in common?
These three countries are all world leaders when it comes to renewable energy. They came first, second and third respectively in the rankings.
Norway utilises hydropower more than any other country around the globe – it accounts for 45 per cent of its supply alone. The Nordic country is known for its many steep valleys and rivers, as well as increased rainfall due to climate change, meaning hydroelectricity is bountiful.
With the second highest supply of renewable energy, Brazil is the leader in biofuel and waste energy. These sources account for 32 per cent of its total energy supply.
It is the second-largest producer of ethanol fuel and is an industry leader, with sugarcane-based ethanol being touted as the most successful alternative fuel to date.
The countries that use the highest share of renewable energy in the worldUtility bidder
Renewable energy sources account for 42 per cent of New Zealand’s energy supply. It is a world leader in wind and solar energy which make up 25 per cent of its energy supply.
Situated in the path of the ‘Roaring Forties’, a set of strong and constant westerly winds, the nation is perfectly positioned for wind power. It enjoys plenty of sunshine for solar energy too, as well as having an increasing market for solar hot water heating systems.
Which five countries are most reliant on fossil fuels?
With 98 per cent reliance on fossil fuels, Singapore comes out as the worst in the world.
The country uses the highest proportion of oil in the world relative to total energy supply, with fossil fuels making up 73 per cent of its energy supply.
It is home to major oil companies such as Exxon Mobil, due to its ideal trading location and perceived safe environment.
Singapore is closely followed by Australia, with 93 per cent reliance, and then South Africa with 91 per cent.
Luxembourg and the Netherlands take fourth and fifth spot with a joint 90 per cent fossil fuel dependence.
The countries that use the highest share of fossil fuels–Utility Bidder
The Netherlands has the highest supply of natural gas of any other country on the list. Fifty per cent of this comes from the Groningen gas field, the largest in Europe.
However, the Dutch government has committed to stop regular production from the Groningen field by 2022.
Source: euronews.com
On his part, the 1st Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, said the visit was an opportunity for Parliament to understand the activities, challenges and importance of the operations of Ghana Gas as a strategic asset.
Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, the Majority Leader, also stated that oil and gas matters are dynamic and as such there was the need for the Parliamentary leadership to be well-positioned to understand issues within the sector.
He also stated that Ghana Gas has a tremendous potential to be a gas hub.
The Parliamentary leadership was taken to the Gas Processing Plant where they were briefed about the gas value chain, operations of the gas plant, the gas infrastructural plan, gas utilisation outlook, the CSR activities of Ghana gas, work programmes of the company and the plan for a Gas Act to regulate the activities of the gas industry.
The visit was facilitated by the Government Relations Department of the Ghana Gas company Limited.
NEDCo is a subsidiary of the country’s largest power generation company, Volta River Authority (VRA).
The newly constituted board is chaired by Ing. Emmanuel Antwi Darkwa, Chief Executive Officer of VRA.
Other members of the board are Ms. Laila Abubakar, Mr. Musa Sadimsugru, Chief Mahama Abdulai and Ing. Samuel Boakye- Appiah, former Managing Director of ECG.
Speaking on behalf of the board, Ing. Emmanuel Antwi Darkwa expressed their gratitude to President Akufo-Addo for the appointment.
He said the board is already aware of the challenges of NEDCo, saying, “It is our responsibility to deal with them to keep the lights on.”
He assured the Minister that the board, in collaboration with management, would do everything possible to ensure efficient delivery of services to the company’s customers.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
