Artist’s impression of the Bujagali hydropower project

Minister for energy and mineral development Irene Muloni, has revealed that the Ugandan government is set to review its contract with Umeme, the sole power distributor in the country, to ensure that consumers get the desired service.

Power ‒ Nigeria has ambitious plans

The federal government of Nigeria is to spend US$5.5 billion under the first implementation plan of its Vision 20:2020 to generate 16, 000 megawatts (MW) by 2013, according to the project implementation document.

One of Kenya’s existing geothermal power plants

Plans to set up a 400 megawatt (MW) geothermal power generating station in Kenya have received a boost, following the approval of its funding by the African Development Bank (AfBD).

The Mount Coffee hydroelectric project in Liberia ‒ abandoned, but now being renovated at a cost of up to US$380 million

Liberian acting assistant minister for lands, mines and energy Beauford Weeks has disclosed that rehabilitation work on the US$300 million Mount Coffee hydro dam in the country is expected to take at least three years, if all goes well.

Example of a gas- fired power station

The appeal this month by Eskom to big mining companies to curb their electricity usage is a grim warning that government's energy planning has failed and that drastic policy revisions are urgently required.

Exclusive interview with Paroshen Naidoo of Util Labs: the company that monitored the energy consumption at COP17

A group, Isolux Corsán, which is rolling out energy projects in seven African countries, includes among these an initiative to bring electricity into 33 rural villages in Gabon. That project covers villages located in the provinces of Estuaire and Moyen-Ogooué and has a budget of €34.6 million. It includes the installation of 20 kilometres of 225 kV power lines. ... more

Antonio Ruffini, Editor, ESI Africa

Like many nebulously defined concepts smart grids, mean different things to different people. One view is the rather science fictional concept of a grid where everyone can off-take the power they need but should the price be right it would be nice to switch on their genset and pump a bit of power onto the grid.