In May 2013, Ghana’s Bui hydroelectric project started generating electricity and added 133 MW to the country’s national grid. The expectation is that all three of the hydroelectric scheme’s turbines will be operational by the end of 2013, though work on the project’s infrastructure will continue into 2014.

Alteria’s minister of energy and mines, Yousef Yousfi, says the country plans to build its first nuclear power station in 2025. The country has sufficient uranium reserves enough to run two nuclear power plants with a capacity of 1,000 MW each for 60 years, according to the minister.

The World Bank has contributed US$6 million for Djibouti to further its geothermal potential. The funds will support Djibouti in assessing the commercial viability of the geothermal resource in the Fiale Caldera area within the Lake Assal region.

Eskom’s 2012 year-end presentation has been given an accolade by the Investment Analysts Society (IAS), which voted it as the “Best Presentation to the Society (market cap above R30bn)”.

An agreement has been entered into between Eskom, employers and labour at the Medupi and Kusile project sites. The goal of this agreement is to stabilise labour relations on site and expedite delivery of the two new coal fired power stations totalling some 9.6 GW.

Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan has launched the estimated US$1 billion Zungeru hydroelectric project in the country’s Niger state. He says the Zungeru hydroelectric scheme was initially conceived in 1982, but due to funding constraints work on the project never began.

NamPower says that results of a pre-feasibility study on the use of biomass for power generation in the country are promising and it has given the go-ahead to continue with a full-scale feasibility study while also investigating the feasibility of a hybrid biomass concentrated solar power (CSP) plant.

The Swaziland Electricity Company (SEC) requested a 36.5% tariff increase for 2013, but the Swaziland Energy Regulator (SERA) awarded it only 9.3%. Subsequently the matter want to the country’s cabinet which reduced this tariff increase further to 5%, reports the Time of Swaziland.

Malawi has signed two electricity deals with China, one being a transmission line project and the other being for the construction of a thermal power station. The two together are worth an estimated US$667 million.

For the first time since Eskom began providing twice weekly updates on the state of its system, it indicates that peak electricity demand has exceeded available supply.

A US$74 million deal has been signed between Germany engineering company Voith and Societe Nationale d’Electricite (Snel) of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the refurbishment of the 350 MW Inga 1 hydroelectric facility owned by the state utility.

Mozambique’s minister of energy, Salvador Namburete, says that 25% of the country’s population now has access to the grid while a further 13% has access to electricity in the form of solar photovoltaic panels. In this way, he claims a national electricity access level of 38% compared with 7% in 2004.

The South African department of energy’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer (REIPPP) programme has a strong localisation element. By the date of the third REIPPP bid, submissions for solar electricity tenders in South Africa requires that 65% of the total costs attributed to such projects be local.

Pure electric car sales in 2013 will be just 70,000 vehicles rising to two million in 2023, versus two million hybrid vehicles this year rising to 7.6 million in 2023. Of course, the big unit numbers come at the small end.

Japanese based company Sumitomo is to build a US$414 million 240 MW gas fired power station in Tanzania. Financing for this project is to be sourced from groups including the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Nippon Export and Investment Insurance and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

Rotor blade manufacturer, LM Wind Power says that its ambition is to lower the cost of energy generated by wind power below grid parity, through a research project to develop intelligent blades based on wireless sensor technology.