Energy in North Africa

  • Egypt increases electricity cost by 42%

    EGYPT, 2017/07/29 Egypt increased electricity prices by up to 42 % on Thursday, a week next hiking fuel prices as part of tough economic reforms. The new rises depending on consumption levels will take result as of this month, Minister of Electricity, Mohammed Chaker said, according to national television. “The ministry has a plan to phase out electricity subsidy by 2021,” he added. The new hikes cut the electricity subsidy in the country’s new fiscal year starting in July by 32 billion Egyptian pounds (around 1.7 billion dollars), private newspaper al-Masry al-Youm reported.
  • How to boost private sector investment in Africa’s electricity infrastructure

    BOTSWANA, 2017/06/15 A new World Bank statement has called for increased private sector investment in Africa’s under-developed electricity transmission infrastructure, a vital ingredient for reaching Africa’s energy goals. The statement which was made available to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday by the World Bank indicated that Africa lags behind the rest of the world at the same time as it comes to electricity, with just 35 % of the people with access to power and a generation capacity of only 100 GW. According to the statement those who do have power typically consume relatively little, face frequent outages and pay high prices.
  • Cyprus, Egypt sign gas export pipeline deal

    CYPRUS, 2016/09/01 Cyprus and Egypt signed a transaction on Wednesday paving the way for detailed negotiations on a submarine pipeline to export natural gas from the Mediterranean island to its energy-starved neighbour. Cyprus has been eager to fasten alternative ways to exploit its offshore reserves next proven finds so far were insufficient to make a planned liquefied natural gas plant on the island's south coast financially viable. Cyprus Energy Minister Georgios Lakkotrypis, and Egypt's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla signed the agreement clearing the way for further negotiations on construction of the pipeline from offshore fields in Cyprus's exclusive economic zone to Egypt, where the gas will be used either for domestic consumption or re-export.
  • Barack Obama’s Power Africa initiative makes slow progress

    UNITED STATES, 2016/07/25 Crumbling, mismanaged energy systems have long been an oppressive brake on economic increase in the region’s 49 nations, which have less grid-connected electricity than South Korea and about 600m power-starved people. However, three years next Mr Obama promised to bring “light where currently there is darkness” and “clean energy to protect our planet”, evolution on the ground is proving painfully slow. The Power Africa programme, which the president launched in 2013, is supposed to add 30,000 megawatts of electricity by 2030, equal to nearly a third of sub-Saharan Africa’s existing generating capacity.
  • Mauritania, Senegal Agree on Mutual Exploitation of Gas Field

    DAKAR CITY, 2016/07/15 Nouakchott and Dakar have come to an agreement to work jointly and share returns of gas production off their coasts by the American energy company, Kosmos, reports say. Presidents of both nations have reportedly given instructions to their respective energy companies; Petrosen in Senegal and Smhpm of Mauritania to continue working with the American giant for gas exploration and production. Kosmos Energy, active in both nations and major actor of gas exploitation in Senegal, announced it signed a Memorandum of Considerate (MoU) with the two national-owned companies entailing collaboration between the two governments.
  • Connecting 7 Gigawatts of Power to Help Reinforce Egypt's Grid

    EGYPT, 2016/04/28 Egypt is going through a period of tremendous increase and economic diversification that is being fueled by new power supply for industrial, manufacturing and commercial development. However, building power plants is only the initial step in connecting new electricity to the grid. It's equally significant to expand the transmission and distribution infrastructure required to carry all that new electricity. GE Grid Solutions is supporting this effort with a recently announced transaction with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) to provide GE's advanced gas-insulated switchgear technology to four substations. These substations will help connect 7 gigawatts (GW) of power to the national grid, which are enough to meet the needs of additional than 6.5 million homes across Egypt. As Egypt approaches the hot summer months and the Holy month of Ramadan, this is a crucial project to reinforce Egypt's network during periods of peak request.
  • Diesel Prices in Morocco Are Lower than Worldwide Average

    MOROCCO, 2015/09/20 A new statement released on Monday by World Petrol Prices ranks Morocco part nations where the price of diesel is below the worldwide average (US $0.92 per liter). The statement noted that drivers pay on average $0.84 a liter for diesel in Morocco, which is considerably less than the price paid by drivers in Norway’s capital Oslo, at $1.59 a liter, placing Norway part the top three most expensive nations in the world for the said fuel. UK leads the inventory of world’s most expensive diesel at $1.67 a liter, followed by Israel ($1.60).
  • Sudan Energy A plan to power the country

    SUDAN, 2015/09/18 Following the Gulf funded extension of the Roseires Dam in 2013, Sudan is further looking to harness the country’s huge hydropower potential in order to boost power generation, while investment opportunities in renewables are as well available Provision of basic services such as electricity remains closely linked to economic increase. Electricity services are particularly essential, and it is one of areas that the Sudanese government has given increasing attention to in recent years. In a country which not so long ago was only capable of producing 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity, this has increased dramatically over the last decade with capacity standing presently well into the thousands of megawatts, meaning power is reaching far additional people in additional remote areas, with shortages and outages as well becoming much less of an occurrence.
  • Egypt's power supply gets an encouraging boost

    EGYPT, 2015/07/05 A $9bn transaction inked in Egypt will give a substantial boost to the country's electricity generation capacity, helping the government address power shortages and support a growing people and economy. On June 3, German industrial conglomerate Siemens agreed a transaction to supply gas and wind power plants that will add 50% − or 16.4 GW − to Egypt's national grid. The transaction, described as the single biggest order in Siemens' 168-year history, was signed during a visit by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to Germany, and follows on the back of memorandums of considerate (MoUs) signed in March at the Egypt Economic Development Conference in Sharm El Sheikh. It includes the supply of 24 H-Class gas turbines for power plants that are scheduled approaching on-stream in phases, starting in the summer of 2017.
  • Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) gas pipeline project

    ITALY, 2014/11/19 Italian foreign minister said on Tuesday at a press conference following the launch of the Adriatic Ionian Macroregion strategy that the various problems connected with the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) gas pipeline project would be resolved. ''The TAP project is significant for our country and for others linked to the Adriatic Ionian Macroregion. There are some issues that must be resolved,'' such as its environmental impact, he noted, ''but I am certain that they will be resolved.'' ''The key word is 'diversification','' he added.