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MASEN has commissioned Eiffage Énergie Systèmes to design, build and operate sites in the northeast of the country, the largest at Ain Beni Mathar. Construction began early this year with handover expected by the middle of next, and a seven-year operations and maintenance term attached to the contract.

President Cyril Ramaphosa officiates at Bethal in Mpumalanga today as the first 155MW phase of Ummbila Emoyeni begins commercial supply. Standard Bank and RMB financed the R4.8 billion phase, the opening stage of a build planned to pass 900MW across seven phases.

UTM Offshore has signed a wet gas sale and purchase agreement with the NNPC and Seplat Energy joint venture for 200 million standard cubic feet a day from the Yoho field. The $5 billion development is owned 72% by UTM, 20% by NNPC and 8% by Delta State.

Three 35MW plants at the field north of Nakuru will together bring 105MW to the national grid, financed by the African Development Bank alongside the IFC. Kenya intends to almost double its installed steam generation by 2030, under Pillar I of its Mission 300 energy compact.

The Northen Cape facility near De Ar entered operation this month under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, contracted to deliver 75MW between 5am and 9.30pm daily. TotalEnergies and Reatile Renewables hold the equity, with more than 400GWh a year committed to Eskom over 20 years.

The 2024 Electricity (Open Access) Regulations let private intermediaries sell directly to customers for a wheeling fee, and roughly a quarter of trades on the regional exchange are no longer long-term bilateral contracts. Stanbic is preparing a procurement programme that aggregates demand across several mining offtakers.

Morocco’s ambassador to Washington confirmed the discussions to Bloomberg on 25 July, six days after ECOWAS heads of state signed the intergovernmental agreement in Freetown. Construction on the 6,800km route is expected to begin in 2028, with first deliveries targeted for 2031. The estimated cost is $26 billion.

Freetown launched a five-year plan in May covering lithium, graphite, cobalt and rare earths, as mineral exports climbed to $1.3 billion. Julius Daniel Mattai, who chairs the African Diamond Producers Association this year, wants African governments negotiating as a bloc rather than one at a time.

Niger State has broken ground on 200MW for a steel complex, SEN’EAU has inaugurated 21MW in Senegal, and distributed systems now make up 44 per cent of new African capacity.

he National Council on Privatisation has approved performance agreements covering Afam Power and Afam III Fast Power, six years after the assets were sold. The Bureau of Public Enterprises can now hold the buyer to the operating targets it committed to, and the transmission company has been separated into two entities.