Ethiopia seems to be planning two more major hydropower projects on the Nile River. The country is aiming for 20 GW of power production within the next 10 years, a goal that requires major power capacity development. Ethiopia is planning to spend about USD 12 billion over the next 25 years in order to install more power capacity in the country.
Existing Katsu river dam in Lesotho.
South African Department of Energy (DoE) has announced the opening of the bidding process for renewable energy development. The official request calls for the proposals for the financing, construction, operation and maintenance of any offshore wind, solar thermal, solar PV, biomass, biogas, landfill gas or small hydro technology project. This basically opens the "flood gate" for massive development of renewable energy capacity in this still underdeveloped renewable energy market, but one with great potential in this energy industry sector.
The 150 MW Hass R'Mel hybrid solar/gas power plant in Algeria.
Abengoa announced the company has officially launched the hybrid solar-gas power plant in Hassi R'Mel, in Algeria. The power plant uses innovative technology which combines power generation using both natural gas and concentrated solar power to create heat used to produce steam which is converted into electrical energy through a steam turbine. The 150 MW power plant was inaugurated by the Algerian minister of energy and mining, while the ceremony was attended by the Spanish minister of energy and high level representatives of the company.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC; Africa) has signed a USD 280 million deal with India for the construction of a hydropower plant in the south of the country. Katende I will be located in Kasai Occidental, a province in the DRC.
It has been reported that France is going to finance the Moroccan solar energy plan with EUR 103 million, in order to help the country develop its solar energy potential. This was announced by the French Minister of Industry and Energy Eric Besson, during his visit to the North African country this week. The financing will be disbursed by the French Development Agency, aimed at a project he described as the focus of the Mediterranean solar plan.
IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) is hosting high-level talks in Abu Dhabi for the next three days with the main topic being the acceleration of deployment of renewable energy projects in Africa. Forty-five African countries, including 30 ministers and assistant ministers have confirmed their participation. Other participants include representatives from the African Union, UNIDO, IPCC, UNEP, India, China, Germany, France, Japan and the UAE. This ministerial gathering is expected to help start the process of development, including scenarios and strategies for the African continent which deal with the constraints regarding the development of renewable energy.
Chiyoda Corporation (Japan) and Archimede Solar Energy (ASE, Italy) have entered into a cooperation agreement to jointly pursue business opportunties for concentrated solar power development in the MENA region. ASE, 45% owned by Siemens, will supply parabolic trough technology for the projects, while Chiyoda will serve as the EPC contractor for project execution.
Soitec, Schneider Electric and Massen (Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy) have signed a partnership memorandum of understanding for developing Concentrix technology in this North African country. The project will create a concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) segment in this market, contributing to the strategy of controlled energy costs in Morocco in the long-term. Furthermore, there are plans to build a manufacturing facility in Morocco as well. This is the first utility-scale project as part of the Mediterrenean Solar Plan, to be developed in one of the Union for the Mediterrenean countries.
Isolux Corsan has been awarded the contract to build a transmission line in Kenya, the largest in that country, which will be capable of tranporting power generated at the future Lake Turkana wind farm. The wind farm is to have 300 MW of installed capacity, making it the largest such facility on the African continent.
