Siemens has won its first ever order for wind turbines in Africa. The company is to supply a total of 100 MW of wind capacity to Nareva Holding (44 wind turbines), which is developing the Haouma and Foum El Oued wind farms in Morocco.
Aside from the delivery and installation of the wind turbines, Siemens is also to provide service and maintenance for five years. Both projects are to enter commercial operation in mid-2013.
Petra Solar and Enviromena Power Systems have entered into a partnership to pursue solar energy and smart grid development in the Middle East and North Africa region. This partnership will draw its strength from Petra Solar's Smart Solar technology and Enviromena's renewable energy development expertise.
Gamesa has won the supply contract for a total of 200 MW of wind turbines, to be installed at wind farm projects in the Gulf of El-Zayt, on Egypt's Red Sea coast. The contract was awarded by the New & Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) of Egypt, after a public tender.
Republic of South Africa's Department of Energy has announced a list of preferred bidders for renewable energy development in this country. The list covers developers involved in wind and solar CSP and solar PV development. A total of 1.415 GW of the planned 3.725 GW of RE capacity has been allocated through this tender.
Mozambique is planning to expand power generating capacity at the Cahora Bassa hydropower project, currently with 2075 MW of installed capacity, to 3220 MW of capacity. The country, as well as the whole southern African region, is facing a rising demand for electricity.
Kinangop Wind Park, a Kenyan RE company, is planning to develop 60.8 MW of wind energy capacity. The wind farm is to be built in Kinangop, for which the company will submit a request for a power generation license in early December.
Toshiba has been awarded the contract to supply steam turbines and generators to be installed at the Olkaria I and Olkaria IV geothermal power plants in Kenya. This is the first geothermal equipment supply contract for Toshiba. A total of four steam turbine and generator sets, each with 70 MW of capacity, is to be delivered and installed at the two power plants.
The World Bank has approved a USD 250 million loan to Eskom for the Eskom Renewable Energy Support Project (ERSP), in order to help the South African utility implement two renewable energy projects involving CSP technology and wind energy.
ABB will be delivering and installing new automation systems for power generation at the Aswan hydropower project in Egypt. The USD 20 million contract was signed with Hydro Plants Generation Company (HPGC), the company that manages the project. ABB will be providing extensive plant automation and control systems, as part of a major rehabilitation program being carried out.
Ormat Technologies has received a letter of committment for USD 310 million which will be used for refinancing and expanding the Olkaria III geothermal project in Kenya. The complex currently has 48 MW of installed capacity, but this will be expanded by another 36 MW, and then optionally by another 16 MW.
