The Comptroller General of Customs, Hameed Ali, has suspended the supply of fuel (diesel and petrol) to filling stations within 20 kilometres to all Nigerian borders.
He gave this directive to all commands through Chidi A, the Deputy Comptroller General, Enforcement, Inspection, and Investigation on Wednesday in Abuja.
The circular, dated November 6, 2019, titled, ‘EII/2019/Circular No. 027 Suspension of Petroleum Products Supply To Filling Stations Within 20 Kilometers To All Borders’, addressed to “all zonal coordinators, operation swift response, sector coordinator 1,2,3 & 4, customs area controllers, coordinators CGC strike force teams, coordinator, headquarters strike force teams and all marine commands, said,
“The comptroller general of Customs has directed that henceforth no petroleum products no matter the tank size is permitted to be discharged in any filling station within 20 kilometers to the border.
“Consequently, you are to ensure strict and immediate compliance please.”
It not clear why Mr Hameed Ali has issued such a directive.
Oil major BP has started drilling at the Puma West prospect the Green Canyon Block of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
The news of the spud was shared Wednesday by the U.S. oil company Talos Energy, from which BP took over the operatorship of the project in September.
“The Puma West well is being drilled by the Seadrill West Auriga ultra-deepwater drillship and was spud in October, targeting Miocene sands similar to those seen in the Mad Dog development located less than 15 miles away,” Talos said in an update.
As previously reported, Talos in September signed a deal with BP for the oil major to take operatorship of Talos’ Green Canyon Block 821 containing the Puma West prospect, and to drill the well.
At the time of the announcement, Talos said it would retain 25 percent, with BP holding the remaining stake. The ownership structure seems to have changed to include Chevron since the original announcement, as Talos on Wednesday said BP “is the operator of the prospect holding a 50% working interest, Talos retained a 25% working interest, and Chevron now also has a 25% working interest.”
Talos in September said that, while the Puma West had not been in its original drilling plan, “by moving quickly the company is able to work with a world-class operator in a potentially significant subsea tie-back project located on Talos acreage.”
BP’s Argos platform will be the first new BP-operated production facility in the Gulf of Mexico since 2008 when Thunder Horse came online. It will be BP’s fifth operated platform in the Gulf of Mexico and it will help extend the life of the super-giant Mad Dog oil field beyond 2050.
The hull and topsides of the Argos platform are currently under construction in South Korea, with oil production from the facility expected to begin in late 2021.
Ghana’s Energy Commission and Electricity Company of Ghana, in collaboration with the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers SA(IEEE), have organised a workshop for regulators and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) stakeholders on the IEEE 1547™ standard and the IEEE 1547 Conformity Assessment Programme.
IEEE 1547-2018, IEEE Standard for Interconnection and Interoperability of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) with Associated Electric Power Systems Interfaces, is a widely adopted standard providing utilities, DER developers, regulators, service companies and equipment manufacturers, a uniform-set of consensus-based requirements for grid interconnection of DERs of any type and size.
IEEE 1547 has informed federal legislation and rule making, regulatory deliberations and critical utility engineering and business practices for DER interconnection in markets worldwide.
In a brief remark, Executive Secretary of Energy Commission, Ing. Oscar Amonoo-Neizer said: “IEEE 1547 and the IEEE Conformity Assessment Program (ICAP) certification programme will be crucial tools in Ghana’s ongoing adoption of distributed energy resources (DERs).
“It’s extremely challenging for the world’s policy makers to simultaneously keep on top of today’s dramatically changing technical landscape, anticipate tomorrow’s innovations and wisely evolve policies and regulations. Open, consensus standards such as IEEE 1547 are an indispensable connection fabric between the world’s technology and policy developers, and the ICAP certification process provides a singularly dependable and proven process for assuring IEEE 1547 commissioning compliance across implementation and interconnection of DERs of any type or size.”
On his part, Adam Newman, IEEE Senior Director of new business development and operations and IEEE Industry Standards and Technology (ISTO) Executive Relationship Manager, said: “It’s not uncommon for DER stakeholders around the world to take drastically different approaches to meeting requirements for commissioning in IEEE 1547. Given the rapid rise of varied renewable deployments around the world, the ICAP certification programme for IEEE 1547 commissioning is an increasingly valuable resource to utilities, DER developers, regulators, service companies and equipment manufacturers globally.”
Earlier this week, grid interconnection of a 20-Megawatt DER site in Winneba, Ghana, was demonstrated per the requirements of the IEEE 1547 standard and the IEEE 1547 Conformity Assessment Programme commissioning process. The pilot demonstration provided insights into how commissioning to IEEE 1547 should be undertaken and how non-conformances can be best resolved.
By: Raymond Nuworkpor.
Government of Ghana in August 2014 executed the second Millennium Challenge Compact with the U.S government with the objective of providing assistance of up to Four Hundred and Ninety-Eight Million Two Hundred Thousand United States Dollars (US$498,200,000) to the Government for a program to reduce poverty through economic growth in Ghana (increasing private sector investment and the productivity and profitability of micro, small, medium and large scale businesses.)
To effectively execute and implement the project, an act of parliament established MiDA (Millennium Development Authority, Act 702, 709, & 897 as amended).
The objectives of the Authority are: To oversee, manage and implement the programmes under the Millennium Challenge Account for poverty reduction, through economic growth as set out in each agreement between the Government of Ghana and the Millennium Challenge Corporation acting for and on behalf of the Government of the United States of America and for any other national development programme of similar nature funded by the Government of Ghana, a development partner or both and provide for related matters.
Government designated MiDA (Millennium Development Authority), as its primary agent to exercise and perform the right and responsibility of overseeing, managing and implementing the Program, including without limitation allocating resources and managing procurements.
Among the six projects within the Second Compact is the ECG Financial & Operational Turnaround Project (EFOT) which seeks to introduce a private sector participant in the management & operation of ECG. Consequently, governments under the auspices of MiDA embarked upon competitive procurement process which resulted in the selection of an acceptable partner to manage, operate and invest in ECG’s operations for 20years.
Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) led consortium was declared the winning bidder in April, 2018. Meralco has partnered AEnergia SA, an Angolan Company, and three Ghanaian Companies. The shareholding: Miralco = 30%; AEnergia = 19%; Three Ghanaian Companies (TG Energy Solutions Ghana Ltd, Santa Power Limited & GTS Power Limited) = 51%.
Author
Power Distribution Services Ghana Ltd (PDS) took-over the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in March 2019 based on a July 3rd 2018 Lease and Assignment Agreement (LAA) and Bulk Supply Agreement (BSA) between the two entities as part of the Private Sector Participation (PSP) in ECG under the Ghana Power Compact of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)
PDS was primarily expected to sell & distribute power/electricity to customers in the Southern Zone while ECG will serve as a Bulk Purchaser of electricity from V.R.A and other power producers.
There were notable variations in the new agreement relative to the one signed in August 2014, i.e. a) Change in the structure of the shareholding from the initial 80%:20% to 49%:51%;
b) Waiving away of some ‘Conditions Precedent’ before the takeover to ‘Condition Subsequent”
c) Changing of the bank demand guarantee to demand insurance guarantee.
On July 30, 2019, the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Finance and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Ltd suspended the concession agreement with Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Limited due to fundamental and material breaches of PDS’s obligation in the provision of Payment Securities (Demand Guarantee) for the transaction which have been discovered upon further due diligence.
“We have through deep intelligence detected that they have issues with those guarantees that were provided… they were not valid and as a step, we have taken measure to secure the assets of the state by suspending the concession agreement,” Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah told Evans Mensah on Joy News’ PM Express
It must be stated clearly that PDS from inception failed to satisfy all ‘Condition Precedent’ among other things, a documented Lease Payment Security (LSP) and BSA Payment Security in the form of Letters of Credit (LC) issued by a qualified bank as spelt out in the LAA and the BSA as proof of capitalization
PDS which was expected to inject about $580million into ECG in the first five years of its operation failed to demonstrate capitalization for even the first year of their operation. PDS had instead proposed to MiDA/ECG (against the terms of the LAA and the BSA) to use Insurance Companies with reinsured guarantees serving as ‘qualified banks’ to help them raise the LC, which they were unable to meet.
It has been noted that whereas Meralco was required to prove their financial and technical capability beyond all reasonable doubt which they did, the 51 percent Ghanaian ownership (TG Energy Solutions Ghana Ltd, Santa Power Ltd, GTS Power Ltd,) as part of the consortium were not financially and technically sound enough to partake in the deal leading to challenge in providing a bank statement of actual receipt of equity contributions accompanied by certifications from PDS Ghana on its outstanding shares and paid-up capital by shareholders.
A letter, dated 18th October 2019, under the signature of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta titled “Termination of Power Distribution Services (PDS) Concession” indicated the termination of the PDS deal “the current concession had to be terminated in view of the facts uncovered regarding the failure by PDS to satisfy conditions precedent under the relevant transaction documents AND, however, that every effort would be employed to ensure a suitable replacement within the relevant timelines in order to complete the compact. The Government decision to terminate the PDS concession and find a replacement in a timely manner to successfully conclude the compact…”
It has become evidently clear that the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), the supervising agency of the Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC), which embarked upon a competitive procurement process resulting in the selection of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), and the group of Ghanaian investors to manage, operate and invest in ECG’s operations for 20years, was negligent in the award of the concession agreement as it failed to do adequate due diligence, resulting in the botched deal.
It has also been proven that apart from Meralco, the other parties in the consortium were not known to have both technical and financial capacity to assume the business with the cash flow of close to US$4billion; failing to inject private capital into the operations of the ECG as required. And to the extent that local shareholders of PDS used proceeds of ECG to fund US$11.5million of the US$12.5million payments it made to procure the demand guarantees.
All information gathered about the purported Demand Guarantees provided by PDS as security for the transfer. The Government of Ghana (GoG) is concluding that there is no valid payment security, and that it’s unable to consider that a valid and enforceable payment security was furnished by PDS in fulfilment of an essential Condition Precedent for the transfer of ECG’s asset to PDS.
In a press release dated, October 22, 2019, “The United States of America notes this decision with regret. Based upon the conclusions of the independent forensic investigation, the U.S position is that the transfer of operations, maintenance, and management of the South Distribution Network to the private concessionaire on March 1, 2019, was valid, and therefore the termination is unwarranted. As such, MCC has confirmed that the $190 million funds granted to Ghana at the March 1 transfer to the 20year concession from ECG to PDS is no longer available.”
With Energy Commission restoring license to ECG to distribute and retail power etc, and MCC & MiDA out of sight, government must in the coming weeks inform the citizenry of it next course of action. But before such an announcement on the type of private sector participation government will undertake, government must honor its debt obligation to ECG. The energy sector is suffering from severe financial distress. The financial distress chain ends with government. Ghana Gas owes GNPC because VRA is unable to pay Ghana Gas because ECG is not able to pay for the power VRA generate that is as result of government inability to honor the debt obligations of ECG.
There is no doubt that ECG needs an urgent recapitalization and competent technical management team. Concession is the most ideal route for Government of Ghana to take, however, government must be transparent and willing to accept constructive criticism in this new process. A concession would bring maximum return to government, including but not limited to the responsibility of funding all new investments as well as maintaining all existing assets. There is also an argument to be made for budget certainty since the concessionaire will be responsible for financing capital expenses and operating expenses. We can also articulate the issue of risk transfer etc.
Government of Ghana must consider both public and private institutional arrangement for the recapitalization of ECG. SSNIT can be a public institutional investor while GoG looks at encouraging the tier 2 and tier 3 pension scheme providers (i.e. the Petra Trust Co. Ltd, United Pensions Trustees Ltd, Universal Pensions Master Trust Limited) as the private sector institutional investor. There can be a special provision for a local consortium to join. There must be a consideration for a foreign investor participation but limited to management and technical operation. Example: Public Institutional Investor = 30%, Private Institutional Investor = 50, Foreign Investor = 25% (their selection should be considered primarily on their managerial competent, technical operatorship and proven track record in the industry) and Consortium of Politically Nonexposed Ghanaians = 5%.
GoG must be willing to give incentives especially to the private institutional investors, give them some tax breaks and concession after all GoG is noted for giving very ridiculous incentives to foreign investors. Give these incentives to the private institutional investors, which you are assured of majority of their revenue retaining in the economy.
Finally government must stay off ECG, enough of the political interference. One lesson from the botched PDS deal is that ECG has competent management team that can deliver results if they are given a free role without any political interference. It was the due diligence and the consistent and the persistent manner in which ECG decided to verify the reinsurance guarantee allegedly provided by Alkoot, that uncovered the misrepresentation and fraud detected in the insurance guarantee.
In addition, in the botched PDS Deal, ECG was almost as a spectator in the whole PSP transaction, they were sometimes compelled to act while political appointees take the major decision. ECG must take full control of the next PSP transaction, offering it competence and expert opinions.
(The writer is a Research & Policy Analyst at Institute for Energy Security)
The newly appointed Managing Director of Ghana’s Bulk Oil Storage & Transportation Company Limited (BOST), Edwin A. Provencal has called on government to approve the implementation of the adjusted BOST margin levy of three Ghana pesewas (GH¢0.03) per litre to six pesewas (GH¢0.06) to ensure efficient running of the organization.
“The current BOST margin of GH¢0.03, was implemented in 2011 and has not been adjusted since then even though parliament has ratified that it should be increased to GH¢0.06 in 2017. Meanwhile the company needs more revenue to bring in more products, build infrastructure and trade, among others,” he said in an interview with the B&FT.
Mr. Provencal expressed among others that he is dedicated to transforming BOST into a dividend paying organization but to be able to do that requires heavy investment in infrastructure and to generate the needed revenue to do that requires that the BOST margin be increased.
“Our vision is to be the best in storage and transportation in terms of revenue market share which means that we are to have the best storage and transportation infrastructure to transport the products throughout the country cost effectively.
“We are also going to be aggressively export-oriented because the kind of product we want to bring to the country, the market capacity of Ghana cannot take all which means that we have to leverage on our asset in Bolgatanga positioned for export to transport products to the neighboring land lock countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Benin, Niger among others,” he said.
He added that the motive is to be able to generate enough Internally Generated Fund (IGF) to enable BOST to pay dividend to the shareholder which is the country as well as promote the provision of affordable energy to reduce the cost of electricity in the near future.
BOST is currently not able to fulfill its mandate due to its inability to bring in petroleum products at a competitive price that will enable it to control and influence the market price.
The company has 51 petroleum storage tanks across the country, out of which 15 have been decommissioned as a result of malfunctioning components and also 86 kilometers (km) out of its 361km of pipeline infrastructure is inactive.
Furthermore, Mr. Provencal indicated that to turn BOST around requires an investment of about US$150million out of which US$65million will be invested into infrastructure only. The return in infrastructure investment only he said will lead to doubling of depot revenue from US$10.2million to US$20.4million, increase in pipeline revenue and barge revenue, as well as increase in trading revenue from US$55million to US$785million.
The critical role BOST plays as a national security asset and the immense revenue that the state will accrue when it is operating at full capacity requires that the new margin be implemented and also restructured to be able to adjust with inflation automatically to ensure that the value is maintain. This is because pegging the current GH¢0.03 BOST margin with inflation since 2011 when it was implemented means that the value of it stands at GH¢0.01.
Ghana’s Deputy Minister for Energy in-charge of petroleum Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has hinted that the West African nation plans to revoke four petroleum exploration licences from companies that are not developing the assets.
Amin Adam told journalists at the ongoing Africa Oil Week in Cape Town that the country will take aggressive action to ensure that its petroleum assets are developed.
The licences were identified for termination after a review of 14 license awards that were made in recent years.
“Four of them are lined up for termination,” he said.
The government has not yet notified the companies involved.
Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons has awarded Italian firm, Saipem, a $90 million gas pipeline project.
The 70-km gas pipeline will link the Alen Unit, operated by Noble Energy, and the petrochemical complex of Punta Europa.
The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons said the contract, will be strictly monitored to ensure that it benefits the local people.
The Alen gas project is expected to monetize some 600 Bcfe gross recoverable gas resources from the Alen gas and condensate field. The field, located in Blocks O and I, has been producing condensate since 2013.
“We anticipate that this contract, which is being approved exceptionally under the given circumstances, will contribute immensely to improving the performance of local businesses and the creation of employment, as it is priority of the Ministry,” Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima said in statement copied to energynewsafrica.com.
The final investment decision of the gas monetization project of the Alen-Backfilling unit was signed in Malabo in April.
The “backfill” links producing gas fields in Equatorial Guinea to onshore LNG facilities. It is widely considered the first phase of the Gas Megahub vision, which aims to turn the Island of Bioko into a mega-center of gas processing.
Ugandan Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, Irene-Margaret Muloni believes the future of the hydrocarbon sector of the East African country is bright.
The Minister who was addressing the 2019 Africa Oil Week currently underway in the South African city of Cape Town, disclosed that Uganda will soon export its first crude oil from its Lake Albert oil discovery to the international markets.
Madam Irene-Margaret Muloni was of the view that the oil export to international markets will make Uganda one of the latest countries to have joined the oil exporting countries after the government came to an agreement with Tanzania that enables it to transport its crude oil through the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), a 1,445-kilometre pipeline from Hoima, Uganda, to the port of Tanga in Tanzania as the proposed route.
“It is exciting times for Uganda, we are now preparing for production. It has taken us some time, but we are there,” she said.
The exploration discovered six billion barrels and we have plans to recover about 1.4 billion of these. And now the issue is to get that out of the ground. We’ve already agreed with Tullow, Total and CNOOC the way forward to commercialise that oil, she announced.
“We need two big destinations. One is access to the international markets through the pipeline to add value and ensure security of supply within the East Africa region. Also, we are importers of petroleum products now, so we have a refinery under development.
”That refinery is planned for Kabaale in Western Uganda’s Hoima district, along the eastern shore of Lake Albert, close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Once the refinery is completed, expected to be in 2022, it will produce kerosene, gasoline, diesel, heavy fuel oils for Uganda and other local markets. In addition to the refinery an airport, hospital and a 100-megawatt thermal power plant are being constructed.
“For these two big projects the pipeline is more advanced with the FEED signed and an intergovernmental agreement with Tanzania.
She pointed out they currently are negotiating the host government agreements amongst themselves and setting up the private companies that are going to own and operate the pipeline.
For the refinery, she stated “we’ve already approved the configuration of the refinery that will handle 60,000 barrels per day”. Those two projects are ongoing and as a country we are preparing the infrastructure.”
The Minister said with the Lake Albert oil beginning to flow, Uganda has set its sights on further resources and in May this year, announced a second licensing round for additional oil exploration in five blocks in western Uganda that will be announced before the end of 2019.
“It is all about attracting companies to come and join us in the exploration. We have only licensed about 15% of the resources but the appetite is there because the parameters are world class. The success rate when you drill is hovering around 85%, meaning every time you drill a hole there is a good chance of success” Madam Irene-Margaret Muloni explained.
Nigeria’s President H. E. Muhammadu Buhari, who is on a two weeks private visit to the United Kingdom, has announced that he has signed the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract (PSC) Amendment Bill into law.
The law will significantly increase Nigeria’s share of earnings earned from oil wells offshore the country.The bill was approved by the National Assembly a fortnight ago and submitted to the president for the final assent into law.The President announced the signing of the law through a post on his official Twitter handle, @MBuhari.“This afternoon I assented to the Bill amending the Deep Offshore (and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract) Act. This is a landmark moment for Nigeria; let me use this opportunity to thank the National Assembly for the cooperation that produced this long-overdue amendment,” the President said.The Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act was enacted on March 23, 1999, with its commencement backdated to January 1, 1993.
However, for some time, there has been disagreement between the government and international oil companies on the need to review the law to reflect current realities.
Section 16 (1) of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act Cap. D3. LFN 2004 spelt out the conditions under which the PSCs should be reviewed.
The provisions of the Act stipulates that the law shall be subject to review to ensure that if the price of crude oil at any time exceeds $20 per barrel, the share of the revenue to the Nigerian government shall be adjusted under the PSC.
The essence of the adjustment of the sharing formula was to ensure that the Production Sharing Contracts shall be economically beneficial to the government of the federation.
Of late, the Federal Government through the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has been making a case for the recovery of over $62 billion from the IOCs as arrears of revenues that should have accrued to Nigeria over the years that oil sold above $20 a barrel.
Malami accused the IOCs of frustrating efforts in the past for the government to negotiate the review of the PSC.
Brazil is set to hold what has been described as a ‘mega-bidding round’ on Wednesday
In the licensing round for the offshore areas in the ”transfer of rights” (TOR) areas oil companies will be bidding for ownership in Buzios, Sepia, Atapu, and Itapu oil fields.
The Transfer of Rights area round differs from traditional offshore exploration rounds in that the acreage offered has confirmed reserves and low exploratory risk.
The national oil company Petrobras has already exercised its preemptive rights -according to Brazil’s laws – to act as the operator of the Buzios and Itapu areas with a minimum of 30% stake ownership in any winning consortium.
The national petroleum regulator ANP has shared that the signing bonuses for the four areas could bring in around 104,8 billion reals (or $26.2 billion) at a minimum if bids for all four areas on offer are received. The TOR auction is scheduled for Wednesday.
Moody’s Investor Services (Moody’s) has downgraded to ‘B3’ from ‘B2’ the long-term corporate family rating (CFR) of South African power utility Eskom.
The zero coupon eurobonds rating has similarly been revised to ‘B3’ from ‘B2’ in line with the CFR and the global medium-term note (GMTN) programme and the senior unsecured GMTNs of Eskom were downgraded to ‘(P)Caa1/Caa1 from (P)B3/B3.
The outlook remains negative.
Moody’s has simultaneously affirmed the Baa3 rating on Eskom’s government guaranteed notes.
Eskom notes with disappointment the ratings decisions implemented by Moody’s.
The current Board and management have worked painstakingly hard to try and resolve corporate governance issues of the past regime.
In a statement, the utility noted that it continues to implement the Generation recovery 9-point plan to stabilise the plant and the security of supply; while the system has been constraint, they have endeavoured to provide a secure and stable electricity supply.
“The company’s liquidity levels remain at low levels, we have, however; seen a considerable amount of support for Eskom paper from the local markets and coupled with the financial support announced by government, we are cautiously confident that our debt obligations are not at risk,” the parastatal noted.
Eskom’s Acting Group Chief Executive and Interim Executive Chairman, Jabu Mabuza said: “We acknowledge the concerns expressed by Moody’s and continue to work closely with shareholder ministries to resolve the current challenges.
“Whichever option gets implemented through the unbundling processes, we will ensure that our creditors will not be compromised and that the execution of these options gets done under acceptable legal frameworks. Our electricity supply system remains fairly constraint; but we are doing everything we can to make sure that the supply is not compromised.”
Deadline date: 28 November 2019
The Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) invites sealed bids from eligible bidders to submit tenders for consultancy services for the undertaking of environment and social impact assessment for Khukhune – Letšeng 132kV line on the following terms and conditions.
A copy of tender document shall be available at a non-refundable price of LSL2,000 ($132) per copy to prospective tenderers.
Provide a detailed Environmental, Social and Impact Assessment (ESIA) study and associated specialist studies of all the activities that are going to be undertaken during construction, implementation and operation of the proposed project and resultant Environment and Social Management Plans (ESMPs).
The successful bidder shall be obliged to enter into a short term contract with LEC.
Sealed bids endorsed “TENDER FOR THE CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR UNDERTAKING ESIA FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A 132KV LINE FROM KHUKHUNE SUB-STATION TO LETŠENG SUBSTATION” shall be placed in the tender box located at LEC Head Office Management Office block, reception area on or before 28 November 2019 at 14h15 for opening on the same day immediately following closure for bids submission.
Note: There will be a briefing session on 07 November 2019 at 14h30pm, the venue will the Training Centre, LEC Head Office premises.
The costs of preparing the proposal and of negotiating the contract, including a visit to LEC, are not reimbursable as a direct cost of the assignment; and tender received after the closing date and time will not be considered.
Tendering consultancies should have the following documents:
Company registration certificate
Tax clearance certificate
Traders’ license
Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from Procurement offices at:
Lesotho Electricity Company (Pty) Ltd.
53 Moshoeshoe Road
Industrial Area
P.O. Box 423
Maseru 100
Lesotho
Tel: +266 2231 2236 or 5227 2217/9 or 5227 2146
Email addresses: [email protected] / [email protected]Subscribe to tenders service
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Ghana’s Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo, has described decision by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) in the West African nation to accept donation from Ghana’s national oil company as very unfortunate and inappropriate.
In his view, EOCO being an oversight institution like the Auditor General’s office, should have rejected the cash donation.
“As an oversight body, you must not only be independent, but you must be seen as independent. So if an oversight body is partaking in the booty and goes back to provide oversight, who will trust them?
“They may do a professional job but who will trust them since they have compromised their independence? This must be avoided…I think that is not a way to go,” he said.
He argued that although the GNPC Board has the right to make decisions, those decisions must fall within the ambit of the law.
“So maybe during an audit, we will interrogate to find out whether the laws of GNPC allow the funds to be used that way. If not then, it may not be the right thing.
“Yes, there are administrative structures like Boards which take decisions but one thing I would like to advise them about is that every time they should try and make sure they are within the law,” he added.
The concerns about GNPC spending heavily on non-core activities have arisen again after details of the financial requests to the Corporation’s Brand, Communication and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) committee was approved by the GNPC board.
A memo dated October 25 outlines various sums of money to different institutions.
The memo indicated that approvals have been granted to some supposed requests received with the stated amounts as indicated below:
–2019 Damba Festival Preparation- Dagbon State- GH¢400,000.00
–20th Anniversary of Okyenhene – GH¢500,000.00 over three years totalling (GH¢1,500,000.00) for the environment and greening.
II:GH¢300,000.00 for the organisation of 20th Anniversary celebrations of Okyenhene
–Ghana Journalists Association – GH¢50,000.00
–Ghana Boxing Association – $30,000.00
–Rebecca Foundation – GH¢120,000.00
–EOCO –GH¢550,000.00
Reacting to the news, Mr Domelevo said public funds are meant for the public and the Constitution under article 178 provides how public funds are supposed to be used.
“So the use of discretion is restricted to what the law permits. If the law does not permit the use of the money the way it has been spent, then definitely something is not right,” he said.
The Auditor-General argued that since the supreme law of the country is clear on what to do, so individuals cannot use their discretion to create any anarchy by defining what is in the public’s interest.
“In fact when people are appropriating public funds to their personal use, they see it as serving the national interest which is quite disturbing,” he said.
Independent energy producer, ENGIE Africa has announced that construction and commissioning of the 262.5MW Ras Ghareb wind farm in Egypt is complete 45 days ahead of schedule.
The wind farm is now fully connected to the grid and is ready for commercial operation at maximum capacity.
The project company, Ras Ghareb Wind Energy SAE is owned by ENGIE (40%) and its consortium partners Toyota Tsusho Corporation/Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation (40%) and Orascom Construction (20%).
The wind farm is located near Ras Ghareb on the Gulf of SUEZ, an optimal site with about 60% of gross capacity factor.
The energy is sold under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC). The total investment cost of the project is approximately $380 million.
Ras Ghareb Wind Energy is the first wind farm tendered on a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) scheme and is part of the Egyptian government’s drive to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix with a target wind generation capacity of 7GW by 2022.
“There is a huge potential for low-cost renewable energy in Africa. We are honoured that the Egyptian authorities have selected the ENGIE consortium to be part of their strategic energy plan,” Yoven Moorooven, CEO of ENGIE Africa commented.
“ENGIE’s clean energy solutions are based on competitiveness, reliability and safety. Ras Ghareb Wind Energy has been developed with a continuous focus on Health and Safety and is completely in line with ENGIE’s ambition in the zero-carbon transition. We are committed to apply the same standards with the same success for the adjacent 500MW wind farm that is being developed by this consortium.”
The consortium arranged non-recourse project financing from The Japan Bank for International Corporation in coordination with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Société Générale under a Nippon Export and Investment Insurance cover.
Commercial International Bank Egypt is acting as working capital bank and Attijariwafa Bank provided an equity bridge loan for Orascom Construction.
With its global references in areas such as facility management, gas distribution, cold networks or green mobility, ENGIE is also keen to develop its service activities and energy solutions for smart cities in Egypt.
