Downstream Infrastructure

Angola lays first stone for new Barra do Dande Ocean Terminal

The Terminal Oceânico da Barra de Dande (TOBD) will include 29 storage tanks with a combined storage capacity of 782,500 m3.

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Yesterday, Sonangol has officially laid the foundation stone for its landmark Barra do Dande Ocean Terminal (Terminal Oceânico da Barra de Dande, TOBD) in the Bengo Province north of Luanda. The infrastructure project has been in the making since 2013 but delayed several times by years of recession since 2016.

It represents a massive step forward for Angola’s downstream sector and aims at turning Barra do Dande into the country’s main platform for the receiving, storage and distribution of petroleum products.

Its official launch follows the award of key contracts this month to its EPCC contractor, the Brazilian Odebrecht, along with the supervision contract to DAR Angola and the Environmental Impact Study to SOAPRO.

The terminal will be developed in phases and at a cost of $500m (Kz. 317 bn), ultimately targeting the construction and installation of 29 storage tanks connected to maritime infrastructure such as breakwater, berths and unloading lines.

Its phase 1 will include 16 tanks with a combined storage capacity of 582,000 m3 of petroleum derivatives including diesel (320,000 m3), gasoline (160,000 m3) and LPG (102,000 m3) reserved for the domestic market, and will support 3,500 jobs during its construction phase. It involves three different units: the first one covers the development of the 16 storage tanks while the second one involves the construction of a petroleum products and LPG pipeline and the third one the construction of two berths with a total capacity of 150,000 DWT.

The project was officially relaunched this week. Phase 1 is expected to be completed within 17 months.

A second phase will add an additional 13 tanks to bring total storage capacity to 782,500 m3 and enable the export of surplus petroleum products.

The project fully integrates with Angola’s vision to expand downstream infrastructure. The country is currently expanding its Luanda Refinery while building three new refining facilities with the private sector at Cabinda, Soyo and Lobito. Once commissioned, these will be producing a surplus of petroleum products that can be exported by pipeline or ship to regional and global markets.

Upon completion of those brownfield and greenfield projects, Angola will have multiplied its refining capacity by x9 and will be one of sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest refining hubs.

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Gabon signs Concession Agreement for new 120 MW gas-to-power plant

Yesterday, the Gabon Power Company (GPC) signed a landmark Concession Agreement with Wärtsilä for the development, supply, construction, operation and maintenance of a new 120 MW gas-to-power project in Owendo, next to the capital city of Libreville. Wärtsilä will jointly lead the project with the GPC, a subsidiary of Gabon’s sovereign wealth fund FGIS via a new joint-venture called Orinko S.A. Under the agreement signed yesterday, Wärtsilä will build the plant under a full Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract and will then operate and maintain it under a long-term 15-year Operation and Maintenance (O&M) agreement. The EPC contract and the O&M agreement will be signed in 2022 with Orinko S.A. When commissioned, the plant will supply electricity to Société d’Energie et d’Eau du Gabon (SEEG), the Gabonese utility, under a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement. Gabon is currently looking at monetizing its gas across several industries, including power generation. The country already runs several gas-to-power facilities, including the 128 MW Owendo plant, the 105 Port Gentil plant and the 75 MW Alenakiri plant. Most plants are supplied in domestic gas by Perenco. The independent delivers gas on land and at sea through a 450km network of high-pressure pipelines and currently ensure the transport and delivery of 50 MMscfd of gas to the power plants of Port-Gentil and Libreville. The new gas-to-power plant with Wärtsilä also falls within Gabon’s ambition to increase power generation capacity across the country. In July this year, the GPC and Meridiam had already successfully reached financial close for the 35 MW Kinguélé Aval hydropower plant.  

‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero sentenced to 25 years in prison by Rwandan court

Unsurprisingly, Paul Rusesabagina was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Monday, September 20, by the Kigali Tribunal. On trial since February, the former manager of the Hôtel des Mille Collines, who became a fierce opponent of President Paul Kagame, was found guilty of supporting a “terrorist” group which “attacked people in their homes, in their cars”, in the words of Judge Béatrice Mukamurenzi. While Paul Rusesabagina confirmed his participation in the creation of the National Liberation Forces (FLN), the armed wing of the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD) responsible for attacks that killed nine people in 2018 and 2019 in the southwest of Rwanda, he rejected any involvement in these crimes. Since March, the 67-year-old opponent, who appeared with 17 other defendants, boycotted the court hearings with his lawyers, denouncing a “political” trial made possible by his “kidnapping” by the Rwandan authorities. According to the indictment drafted by the attorney general of the Kigali court, Paul Rusesabagina was charged with nine counts relating to acts of terrorism. In the investigation, carried out by Rwanda in collaboration with the Belgian judicial authorities, he appears as the founder and “one of the main financiers of the FLN”, which he admits to having “supported up to 20,000 euros”.