14 December 2007 - It has been reported that Powertech, a subsidiary of the Altron group has appointed Dr Herb Chikwanda as CEO of Powertech IST. Chikwanda, who was the managing director of IST Energy, will assume his new role in March.

“I am excited about taking up the challenge of maximising Powertech and IST’s synergies as we strive to create a leaner and more competitive organisation,” said Chikwanda.

31 December 2007 - Electricity consumers in Botswana are due for an tariff increase, effective 1st January 2008. This appears to be the first increase in domestic tariffs by the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) since September 2005.

Says Tlhomamiso Selato, BPC's head of public relations "There is a continuing reduction in the availability of surplus generating capacity in the region which is characterised by an increase in the cost of imports, consistent with the normal laws of supply and demand. There is also a difficulty in sourcing electricity from the Southern African Power pool."

21 December 2007 - The World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) are to provide political risk cover for a Kenyan power plant.

"The US$88.3 million guarantee will support investments into a geothermal power plant with a combined capacity of 48MW" MIGA said in a press release.

Explains Christopher Ang, underwriter at MIGA, “Geothermal power plants release about 1 to 3 percent of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of a fossil fuel plant. At 95 percent capacity, the Olkaria III Geothermal Power Plant— developed, owned and operated by OrPower 4, Inc., a subsidiary of Ormat Technologies, Inc.—will produce more than 5.6 GWh of electricity. Compared to a diesel plant generating the same amount of energy, this would avoid several million tons of CO2 emissions over the life of the project.”

ESKOM’S ELECTRICITY PRICE INCREASE FOR 2008/09 AND MUNICIPAL ELECTRICITY TARIFF GUIDELINE AND BENCHMARKS FOR 2008/9

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) considered and decided at its meeting this morning, Thursday, 20 December 2007, on Eskom’s application for a Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD) rule change and on the municipal electricity tariff guideline and benchmarks for the financial year 2008/09.

20 December 2007 - Ugandan power distributor Umeme and the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company (UETCL) have applied to the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) for an increase in tariffs. Both cited a need to recover target revenue and a return on investment as the reasons for the request.

Electricity prices have increased from US$.0101 in 2005 to US$0.252 in 2006 and Ugandans are paying the highest electricity tariffs in the region.