Electricity and Control June 2021

RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS IN AFRICA

US$530 million for regional connectivity of clean energy

The African Development Bank has committed US$530 million to finance the construction of a 343 km, 400 kV central-south transmission line that will connect the north and south transmission grids in Angola and allow for the distribution of clean energy between the two regions. The north of Angola has a surplus of more than 1 000 MW of mostly renewable power, whereas the south relies on expensive diesel generators, supported by government subsidies. Transmission capacity will increase by 2 250 MW and eliminate the need for polluting, diesel-poweredgenerators in the southern provinces. The project, once operational in 2023, will avert the consumption of 46.8 billion litres of diesel per year in the south, cutting 80 Megatonnes of CO 2 emissions. The government of Angola will save more than $130 million per year in diesel subsidies. The finance package, approved in December 2019 by the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank and announced in March 2021, consists of $480 million in financing from the Bank, together with $50 million from the Africa Growing Together Fund, a $2 billion facility sponsored by the People’s Bank of China and administered by the African Development Bank. The funding covers the first phase of the Energy Sector Efficiency and Expansion Programme (ESEEP) in Angola, which will assist the government to connect the country’s transmission grids and tackle limited operational capacity within the Angolan power distribution utility ENDE. Around 80% of residential customers in Angola are not metered, resulting in financial losses and reliance on government subsidies. As part of the ESEEP, 860 000 pre-paid meters will be installed and 400 000 new customers will be connected to the grid and effectively metered. At the regional level, the ESEEP will be the first step to enabling a connection to the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP). The new transmission line will become the backbone for the distribution of power to the southern Globeleq, a leading independent power generation company in Africa, and its consortium partner, Sturdee Energy Southern Africa, an independent power producer focused on renewable energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa, have been awarded preferred bidder status for two 15 MW ac solar photovoltaic projects in the first tranche of the Kingdom of Eswatini’s procurement programme for new generation capacity. The Eswatini Energy Regulatory Authority (ESERA) officially released the intention to award notice on 14 April 2021 after evaluation of the bids submitted in November 2020. The tender was originally launched in March 2020. Jonathan Hoffman, Globeleq’s Chief Development

Officer commented: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to support ESERA’s strategy to increase domestic power generation and reduce reliance on imported power. As the first utility scale renewable IPPs in Eswatini, these projects will help stabilise the cost of electricity supply and increase the country’s energy resilience, acting as a strong driver for growth and playing a part in the economic recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic.” The 15 MW ac Balekane and 15 MW ac Ngwenya projects will be located on separate parcels of private land in north western Eswatini, in the Hhohho region, and connected to the existing Eswatini Electricity Company provinces of Angola and Namibia and will enable further power trading between countries in the region. The funding follows two other recent Bank contributions to Angola’s energy sector strategy. In 2015, the Bank approved a $1 billion power sector reform loan for Angola, which resulted in the creation of an independent regulator and the unbundling of the sector into generation, transmission and distribution companies. The programme encourages ownership of the reforms by the government, and enhanced donor coordination, through project implementation and procurement support for the power utilities, provided in cooperation with Power Africa/USAID. Angola has improved the capacity, operational efficiency, and sustainability of the electricity sector significantly. In the period 2015 to 2019, Angola’s total installed capacity in renewable energy rose from 1 017 MW to 2 763 MW, mainly through the improved exploitation of the country’s abundant hydropower. The loan will finance the construction of a 343 km, 400 kV central-south transmission line connecting the north and south transmission grids in Angola. For more information visit: www.AfDB.org

Energy consortium for Eswatini solar PV projects

18 Electricity + Control JUNE 2021