South Africa’s power utilities company, Eskom has announced that it will implement load reduction on Monday, 31 August, 2020 in Free State from 06:00 to 09:00.
A statement issued on Sunday said the move is intended to avoid overloading Eskom network and damage to infrastructure in high density areas that are prone to network overloading.
“To avoid overloading the Eskom network and damage to our infrastructure in high-density areas that are prone to network overloading, Eskom will implement load reduction during the evening peak hours of Monday, 31 August 2020,” Eskom said.
The implementation of load reduction will take effect from 06:00 until 09:00.
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The load reduction will be implemented in Lejweleputswa and Thabo Mofutsanyana Districts.
Eskom Load Reduction Notice
Date: 30 August 2020#Eskom_FreeState will implement load reduction on Monday, 31 August 2020 from 06h00 to 09h00. See statement for areas affected pic.twitter.com/6Dz8E7Vjuo
Saudi Aramco has discovered two oil and gas fields in northern parts of Saudi Arabia, the kingdom’s official news agency reported, citing Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.
Gas has started flowing from Hadabat Al-Hajara field near the Iraqi border at an average daily rate of 16 million standard cubic feet.
Additionally, there is 1,944 barrels of condensates, which are a type of petroleum that usually isn’t classified as crude oil because it’s too light.
The nearby Abraq at-Tulul field has started producing 3,000 barrels a day of crude, 49,000 barrels of condensates and 1.1 million cubic feet of gas.
Aramco said it will drill more wells to evaluate how much energy the fields hold.
The crude finds pale in comparison to the state firm’s existing production of around 8.5 million barrels a day. But the gas discoveries could help its goal of boosting non-oil output, according to Robin Mills, founder of Dubai-based consulting firm Qamar Energy.
“If volumes and costs are suitable, will be useful for meeting Saudi Arabia’s gas targets and supplying the west coast, which currently lacks a gas grid,” Mills said on Twitter.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
The Minister for Petroleum & Mineral Resources of Federal Republic of Somalia, Eng. Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed and a host of renowned energy industry players, are expected to speak at this year’s Africa Oil Week Conference scheduled for 7-8 October.
The conference, which will be held virtually, will feature Ibrahim Ali Hussein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Somali Petroleum Authority, Phil McDonald, Regional Director (Africa) of Castor Vali, Dr Alessio Checconi, Senior Business Development Manager AME of TGS, Scot Fraser, Co-Founder & Director Exploration for Ventura International Energy LLC and Daniel Berkove, Senior Associate Energy for IHS Markit.
Other industry leaders who have confirmed to speak in the online conference are: Tracey Henderson, Chief Exploration Officer, Kosmos Energy, Liv Hovem, CEO, DNV GL, Dr Alex Irune, COO, Oando Energy Resources, Christine Roche, Manager – AMME, PGS, Adam Pollard, Senior Research Analyst, Sub-Saharan Africa Upstream Oil & Gas, Wood Mackenzie, Chris Hindle, Director, Critical Resource with more speakers expected to be revealed in the lead up to the event.
By popular demand, AOW Virtual will also be shining the spotlight on the West African Region from Côte D’Ivoire to Nigeria in the ‘West Africa Regional Focus: New Ventures & Opportunities’ session and the ‘Interactive debate: natural gas vs renewables’ will aim to answer, which is the most viable energy source for Africa, as well as investment, infrastructure, technology and ESG required.
Lastly, it would not be an Africa Oil Week event without a strategic outlook from operators across the continent.
Senior executives will deliver insights on which new ventures, projects and geographies they are prioritising in the new post-pandemic landscape.
AOW Virtual will take place over two afternoons with a fully-packed strategic outlooks, debates and a much-anticipated government bidding round.
Hundreds of C-level executives from across the value chain are expected to attend and join meaningful conversations reigniting the African upstream once again.
AOW Virtual, an unmissable online conference from the producers of Africa Oil Week, is free of charge to attend with the aim at providing the global oil and gas audience with a platform to discuss insights and learning on how to operate in the ‘new normal’ as well as the challenges and opportunities post Covid-19.
AOW Virtual is CPD certified, so attending sessions will count towards continuing professional development.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Ifeoma Malo, Co-founder of Clean Tech Hub Nigeria, has won the 2020 Power Industry Leader of the Year at the African Power, Energy & Water Industry Awards.
The Executive Director of the Rural Electrification Fund, Sanusi Ohiare, received the Young Leader of the Year Award while Sosai Renewable Energies Company won the Small Scale Power Project of the Year. KEDCO, also a Nigerian company, emerged as the Transmission and Distribution Project of the Year.
Dr. Sanusi Ohiare, Executive Director of the Rural Electrification Fund
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Andrew Herscowitz, Former Coordinator of Power Africa.
His current position is Chief Development Officer at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.
The Seventh Edition of the coveted African Power, Energy & Water Industry Awards, honour the most remarkable and inspiring energy projects and power pioneers on the continent.
Commenting on Ifeoma Malo’s award, CEO of All-On, an off-grid energy investment company, Wiebe Boer said: “I want to say special congratulations to Ify Malo for this amazing recognition which you completely deserve. I’ve gotten to know Ify quite a few years ago when she was in the public sector. But it was only when I got into the power sector and she was with Power4All and then with the Clean Tech Hub that I’ve really gotten to know her very well and I’ve appreciated everything that she has done; not just for me but for the whole industry.
“I have known Miss Ify Malo for five years now and I know her to be a very exceptional and a true leader. I knew her right from the time she was the Executive Advisor to the Honourable Minister of Power until she transitioned in her role at Power for All and more recently the Clean Technology Hub. She is somebody who believes a lot in teambuilding and giving people the opportunity to grow in their various capacities. On a personal note, she has been a very good mentor to me and she has helped me in my own journey of entrepreneurship as well.”
Andrew Herscowitz
Ifeanyi Orajaka, MDC of GVE Projects and Meters, Nigeria, said this year’s Awards Gala Dinner was to take place during the upcoming African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa conference and exhibition in Cape Town in November.
However, the event had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, so the organisers of the Seventh Edition of the African Power, Energy & Water Industry Awards made sure that the deserving nominees and winners were still celebrated in style.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Thousands of people marched on Saturday in Port Louis, the capital city of Mauritius, a month after a grounded Japanese ship leaked over 1,000 tons of fuel oil into the island’s fragile marine areas.
Many wore black and waved the national flag, while honking horns and drumming.
The protesters called for the government to resign and had T-shirts with the inscription: “I love my country. I’m ashamed of my government.”
It is the biggest protest the country has seen in recent years.
Many Mauritians believe the government could have done more to prevent the spill.
There is also criticism over the decision to deliberately sink part of the ship after it split in two.
One woman told the BBC’s Yasine Mohabuth: “I am present today because we want the truth.
“They didn’t do anything when the ship approached our coastline – 12 days they didn’t do anything until the oil spill and now thousands of people and marine people are affected.”
Mauritians in the diaspora also held demonstrations in cities including London, Paris and Perth.
The government has promised to set up a commission to investigate the spill.
The captain of the ship has been arrested and charged with endangering safe navigation. He has not yet commented.
At least 39 dead dolphins have washed ashore and experts fear the fuel’s chemicals may be to blame.
There are concerns that the wreckage could also weaken coral reefs and the fragile ecosystem of the island’s mangroves.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The Executive Chairman of Atlas Petroleum International and Oranto Petroleum in the Republic of Nigeria, Prince Arthur Eze, has categorically denied recent news report of his involvement in a partnership with ADM Energy on the ongoing Marginal Fields Bidding Round in Nigeria.
Mr Eze accused Oilbank International of using his name and reputation to discuss business with people and companies, especially for the ongoing marginal oilfields bidding round in Nigeria.
On August 3rd, 2020, ADM Energy announced its successful pre-qualification in the Nigerian Government’s 2020 Marginal Field Bid Round, as the exclusive technical partner of Nigerian company Oilbank International.
But in a statement issued by Atlas Petroleum International, Mr Eze denied having any dealings with Oilbank, alleging that his name was being fraudulently used by the firm.
“The misuse of my name and reputation is a blatant fraud. I am not involved in any shape or form in the management of Oilbank International, nor do I serve as its Chairman of the Board.
Consequently, neither I nor my companies Atlas Petroleum International and Oranto Petroleum have ever had in any way, shape or form, any discussion about a potential partnership with ADM Energy,” declared Prince Arthur Eze.
While the Nigerian Marginal Fields Bidding Round is expected to attract a lot of international partnerships to inject necessary capital and technology into the country’s marginal acreages, it is the duty of foreign partners to do their due diligence before partnering with local entities.
“If Atlas Petroleum International wants to acquire and operate a marginal field, it can do so on its own rights and does not need partnership with small companies like ADM Energy or Oilbank International to pursue such an opportunity. This is further demonstration that all stakeholders must adhere to President Muhammadu Buhari’s call to end corruption and promote sound and transparent business practices and corporate governance standards across the energy sector,” concluded Prince Arthur Eze.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Solar and wind energy projects of over 21,142 Megawatt (Mw) are currently under construction in India, according to report by Central Electricity Authority.
This is over and above the 88,000 MW already installed generation capacity based on the two clean resources.
Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the country’s apex power sector planning body, said in a report the projects are getting built across key resource-rich states including Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh and were bid out under multiple schemes.
The report also said the government had tendered projects with 31,500 MW capacity of which 23,246 MW capacity projects were awarded to developers.
These projects were tendered under programmes such as the Solar Energy Corporation of India’s 2-GW ISTS-connected scheme, 750 MW Rajasthan projects, 150 MW grid-connected floating solar PV plants, 750 MW Kadapa solar park project, the CPSU scheme’s tranche-I of 2 GW and tranche-II of 1,500 MW, and nine tranches of SECI’s wind schemes.
The data of under construction renewable energy projects shared in the report also showed time over-runs across multiple projects.
Mahindra Renewables’ 250-MW project in Rajasthan — to be developed in Jodhpur and bidded under the 2-GW ISTS-connected solar project scheme — has been rescheduled to 31 January 2021 from the earlier date of 25 October 2020.
Similarly, ACME’s Deoghar solar project had an original scheduled completion date of 8 November, 2020, which has now been shifted to 7 January, 2022.
The report also said of the 61 solar energy projects tendered by SECI, 42 have availed timeline extension due to the COVID-19 pandemic in line with the government’s earlier Order.
Many projects in the wind energy sector have also seen rescheduling of commissioning dates including three projects by Inox Wind, won under the tranche-III scheme, have been shifted from 24 November, 2019 to 8 April, 2021.
The delay in project construction is due to delays in execution of power purchase and power supply agreements; land allocation issues; delay in finalisation of ISTS substation location; and delay in readiness of power evacuation infrastructure.
CEA said the data shared in the report was collected from SECI, MNRE and RE developers.
ConocoPhillips, one of the world’s largest independent E&P companies, has shut down its office in Houston, Texas, USA, due to Harricane Laura storm.
The storm has wreaked havoc to properties and human lives.
In a tweet, the company said the office would, however, reopen from Monday, 31st, August, 2020.
“We encourage those in Texas and Lousiana, who are in the path of Harrican Laura, to learn more and follow local guidelines,” the company said in the tweet.
Louisiana Gov., John Bel Edwards warned today that parts of the state would be submerged underwater from Hurricane Laura.
“The surge is going to inland, they predict, and there will be parts of Lake Charles underwater that no living human being has everseen before,” he said in an interview with WWL Radio.
“We are marshaling all of our people and assets to go in tomorrow and start a very robust search and rescue effort,” Edwards added.
“We’ve brought in search and rescue teams from other states, such as Tennessee, for example.
“The first thing about tomorrow is all about saving lives and, of course, we will be transporting a lot more people to shelters initially and ultimately to hotel and motel rooms.”
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The circumstances that excited Ghana’s investigative body, Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), to jump into an ongoing investigation by the Ministries Police station over an alleged cloned cheque of the Ministry of Energy by some unscrupulous persons have raised eyebrows at the Ministry.
The unscrupulous persons allegedly attempted to transfer an amount of GHS3,540,000 from the Energy Ministry’s account at National Investment Bank (NIB) into Guma Oil and Gas Ltd account at Zenith Bank.
The Chief Director and Finance Director of the Energy Ministry Mr Lawrence Apaalse and Kwasi Adjei had lodged a complaint at the Ministry’s Police Station for investigations to be conducted into an act of forgery, but surprisingly, EOCO took over the investigation.
Officials of EOCO, recently, announced in press interviews that they had arrested the Managing Director of Guma Oil and Gas Ltd, Fuseini Abdulai, Bright Addison and Dennis Koranteng in connection with a forgery incident at the Ministry of Energy.
However, EOCO’s involvement in investigating the case has come as a surprise to the Chief Director and the Finance Director as to whether the purported act was deliberately engineered by some persons within the Ministry or outside in order to get them interdicted to kick them out of office.
According to statements presented to the Ministries’ Police Station by the Chief Director and Finance Director which were sighted by energynewsafrica.com, Kwasi Adjei, on April 23, this year, at about 12:43pm, received a WhatsApp message and a telephone call from the Ministry’s Relationship Manager at the National Investment Bank (NIB) for the confirmation of a cheque.
Chief Director’s statement to the police
It said when Kwasi Adjei checked a scanned cheque number 002289 with a face value of GHS3,540,000 issued in favour of Guma Oil and Gas Limited and forwarded to him on WhatsApp, he quickly went to the office to check only to realise that the cheque book contained the cheque leaflet with the number 002289 and so, notified the Chief Director about it.
The statement said the Chief Director, upon a careful examination of the cheque, realised that the signature purported to be was not exact.
Statement by the Finance Director
“The Director Finance and I then drafted and jointly signed a letter to the National Investment Bank (NIB) distancing ourselves from the said cheque on the same day and proceeded to make this report,” part of the statement read.
Information available to energynewsafrica.com indicated the Chief Director, in the company of the Finance Director, went to NIB to instruct them not to honour the cheque. The Chief Director, per information available, then made attempts to brief the Energy Minister, John-Peter Amewu, in the office about the forgery incident, but when he could not get him in the office, he called the Minister on the telephone to tell him about the incident and the action that had been taken.
He indicated to him that the Finance Director and the Internal Auditor of the Ministry would brief him on Tuesday, April 28, 2020.
However, barely a week after the briefing, Mr Amewu received a letter from the Executive Director of Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), signed by the first Deputy Director, inviting the Chief Director and Finance Director for questioning.
According to sources, Mr Amewu immediately directed the Chief Director and Finance Director to follow Paul Gyan, Godwin Semeh and William Amoako, who are EOCO officials, for questioning.
EOCO, later, invited Charles Fobi, Chief Treasury Officer, Richard Kwaku Boadu, Chief Accountant, Gifty Jackson, Secretary to the Finance Director, Awudu Issaka, Accounts Manager, and David Nortei, Accounts Officer, for questioning.
Although, a letter written by COP Frank Adu-Poku (Rtd), Executive Director of EOCO, to Mr Peter Amewu, and intercepted by energynewsafrica.com, has cleared the Chief Director and Finance Director of the Ministry of Energy of any wrongdoing, the treatment by EOCO officials to the Chief Director and the Finance Director has compelled the Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co Chambers, who are lawyers of the Chief Director and the Finance Director, to write to the Executive Director of EOCO to make some demands.
The lawyers are demanding, among other things, the identity of the person who instructed them to get involved in investigating the case and person’s interest since the police had assured their client of pursuing those behind the cloned cheque.
The lawyers said this demand in particular is relevant because all interested parties in the case, notably the Energy Minister and staff of the Ministry, Police and NIB, have denied reporting the matter to EOCO.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
The Buhari administration in the Republic of Nigeria has announced that “poor and vulnerable” Nigerians will be exempted from an increment in electricity tariff.
President Muhammadu Buhari, last Tuesday, approved the implementation of the proposed cost-reflective energy tariff for the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), but said residential areas classified as “poor” will not be affected.
A statement signed by James Momoh, chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), on Wednesday, confirmed that the new tariff regime will exempt those who consume 50kW or less.
The NERC chairman added that customers on estimated billing will not also be affected as the president has ordered mass metering of consumers across the country.
“NERC wishes to clarify that tariff reviews going forward will only follow service-based principles. Under these service-based principles DisCos will only be able to review tariff rates for customers when they consult with customers, commit to increasing the number of hours of supply per day and quality of service,” Momoh said.
“In all cases poor and vulnerable Nigerians will not experience any increase. In line with these expectations, DisCos are directed to engage with their customers on a Service Based Tariff structure,” he said.
Mr. Momoh said DisCos can only review tariffs for customers under the following conditions.
“Customers are consulted and communicated a guaranteed level of electricity service by the DISCOs based on hours of supply; customers are metered; no estimated billing through the strict enforcement of the capping regulation.
“This means that unmetered customers will not experience any cost increase beyond what is chargeable to metered customers in the same area. Even under the above conditions, there will be no change in tariff for the most vulnerable as tariffs for those consuming 50KW or less remains frozen.
“Customers receiving less than 12 hours of supply will also not experience any change in tariffs. In addition, the President has directed that there should be a nationwide mass-metering program in an effort by the Federal Government to put a stop to estimated and arbitrary billing for electricity.”
In January, NERC had announced that there would be an upward review of electricity tariffs across the country from April 1.
However, it directed electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to suspend the proposed tariff increase in March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Greenpeace activists from Germany have launched a protest in the North Sea to call out Shell’s plans to abandon an estimated 11,000 tonnes of oil in the sea, offshoreenergytoday.com has reported.
According to the report, the environmentalists group’s, Esperanza Ship approached the 500m exclusion zone of Shell’s platforms in the Brent oil field, off the Shetland Islands, with protestors on board waving banners calling on Shell to clean up its mess.
Greenpeace said its protest was to highlights how Shell is failing to take responsibility for its harmful impact on the environment.
“Shell still wants to cheaply dismantle the platforms, and the UK government is colluding with them to allow it,” Dr. Christian Bussau, Greenpeace Germany marine biologist, reported said.
“Shell’s profit-before-people business model is blocking an opportunity to create jobs to dispose of the 11,000 tonnes of oil and parts of the platform that must be removed in an environmentally friendly manner. Shell must urgently get out of the dirty oil and gas industry and pivot its business to renewable energy”.
Greenpeace claims that, according to Shell’s decommissioning proposals, it will leave behind the remains of four platforms in the Brent oil field.
Shell estimates three of those platforms contain 640,000 cubic metres of oily water and 40,000 cubic metres of oily sediment with a total content of more than 11,000 tonnes of oil.
“While the rest of the world has moved on, Shell apparently still believes the world is its garbage dump, just as it did 25 years ago. If we don’t immediately transition to renewable energy we’re going to see more leaks and oil spills, more fossil fuel-driven inequality and more exacerbated extreme weather events like the floods, fires and storms we’re seeing everywhere. A just transition means governments turning their backs on fossil fuel and supporting workers into shifting to jobs with a future”, Bussau said.
In October last year, the member states of the OSPAR Commission (Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic) met in London and discussed Shell’s plans, with the UK government indicating its approval.
The German government lodged an official objection. The EU Commission, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, and the Netherlands also spoke out against leaving 11,000 tonnes of oil in the concrete tanks on the seafloor. But the final decision has been postponed and is pending.
“An approval from the member states would set a dangerous precedent for other oil companies and further the destruction of the North Sea”, Greenpeace concluded.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Some staff of Ghana’s Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) have taken to social media platforms to express their frustration about the Akufo-Addo’s administration lack of interest in making the country’s only refinery work consistently by ensuring that the refinery gets regular supply of crude oil.
Energynewsafrica.com understands the refinery has been shut down for the past one and half month due to lack of crude oil for processing.
The workers, who spoke to energynewsafrica.com, said they are shocked that the governing NPP never indicated what the next NPP administration would do to make the refinery operate at full capacity and efficiently.
It is unclear whether the government intends to convert the refinery into tank farm as it has been speculated.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
A domestic gas explosion at Powerland, a suburb of Madina in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana, on Tuesday has reportedly rendered scores of people homeless.
The explosion is said to have started in a wooden structure at Powerland, near Crown Medical Centre, and spread to other structures.
It is unclear what caused the explosion but some eyewitnesses said the fire started when a woman, who was frying eggs, forgot to turn off her LPG cylinder after she had finished, thereby, causing the fire.
They continued that the woman, ignorant of how to douse the fire, dashed out wailing for help, a situation that escalated the inferno.
Speaking to energynewsafrica.com, Mr. Alexander Amankwah Agyei, who is an investigator with the Madina Fire Station, said the fire destroyed about sixty-five wooden structures.
He said the intervention of the fire personnel prevented it from spreading to other concrete houses in the vicinity.
He said the fire escalated because almost all the occupants of the affected structures used LPG cylinders.
According to him, they retrieved about 62 gas cylinders which were completely burnt.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s national oil company, GNPC, is said to have released an amount of US$10 million for the acquisition of land and related expenses for the government’s intended regional oil services hub in the Western Region.
This is contained in the governing New Patriotic Party’s 2020 Manifesto titled: ‘Leadership of Service, Protecting Our Progress and Transforming Ghana For All’.
The Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration promised in their 2016 Manifesto to establish a picture of hub in the Western Region to serve the West African subregion.
However, that vision could not be fully actualised, but energynewsafrica.com confirm that plans are far advanced for the realisation of the project.
Our sources from the Ministry of Energy indicate that the Deputy Minister for Energy in charge of Infrastructure and MP for Effia, Joseph Cudjoe, recently, led a delegation from the Ministry to visit chiefs and elders of the area where a land had been acquired for the petroleum hub project to be established.
Speaking at the unveiling of the 2020 Manifesto of the governing NPP in Cape Coast in the Central Region, a Deputy Minister for Energy in charge of Petroleum, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam revealed that a bill establishing the Petroleum Hub Corporation to be responsible for the project is currently under parliamentary consideration.
“We will pursue relevant reforms in the upstream petroleum sector and provide incentives for the revival of exploration activities after the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
The petroleum hub project will have, among other facilities,four new oil refineries each with a capacity of 150,000bpd, storage tanks for crude and finished products, two oil jetties, two petrochemical plants with processing capacity of 45,000bpsd each, as well as waste and water treatment plants.
It is estimated that 780,000 jobs would be created when the project commences and completed.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Many Mauritians believe the government could have done more to prevent the spill.
There is also criticism over the decision to deliberately sink part of the ship after it split in two.
One woman told the BBC’s Yasine Mohabuth: “I am present today because we want the truth.
“They didn’t do anything when the ship approached our coastline – 12 days they didn’t do anything until the oil spill and now thousands of people and marine people are affected.”
Mauritians in the diaspora also held demonstrations in cities including London, Paris and Perth.
The government has promised to set up a commission to investigate the spill.
The captain of the ship has been arrested and charged with endangering safe navigation. He has not yet commented.
At least 39 dead dolphins have washed ashore and experts fear the fuel’s chemicals may be to blame.
There are concerns that the wreckage could also weaken coral reefs and the fragile ecosystem of the island’s mangroves.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
They continued that the woman, ignorant of how to douse the fire, dashed out wailing for help, a situation that escalated the inferno.
Speaking to energynewsafrica.com, Mr. Alexander Amankwah Agyei, who is an investigator with the Madina Fire Station, said the fire destroyed about sixty-five wooden structures.
He said the intervention of the fire personnel prevented it from spreading to other concrete houses in the vicinity.
He said the fire escalated because almost all the occupants of the affected structures used LPG cylinders.
According to him, they retrieved about 62 gas cylinders which were completely burnt.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
