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Through the Africa Infrastructure Fund, A.P. Moller Capital has just acquired a 44% stake in Cabeólica S.A., which runs four wind farms on the islands of Santiago (9.35MW), São Vicente (5.95MW), Sal (7.65 MW) and Boa Vista (2.55 MW) in Cabo Verde. The stake was acquired from the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), who has been part of the project since 2020. The AFC will continue to hold a 50% stake in Cabeólica, alongside the Government of Cape Verde and its national utility Electra, who together own the remaining 6% stake. The Cabeólica wind farms were sub-Saharan Africa’s first wind power public-private partnership (PPP) project upon their commissioning in 2011. Back then, Cabo Verde’s electricity generation relied heavily on imported diesel, which came at significant financial and environmental costs. Consequently, the development of 25.5 MW of wind power generation capacity not only helped the archipelago reach its renewable energy targets, but also decrease its national electricity bill. The PPP took shape in the late 2000s with an agreement between InfraCo Africa, Cabo Verde’s Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Energy, and Electra SARL, the local electricity concessionary company. The partnership welcomed the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation as strategic partners and majority investors in Cabeólica S.A. in 2010, and reached financial close the same year. It resulted in the development of four different windfarms for a total installed capacity of 25.5MW. 30 Vestas model V52-850kW wind turbines were installed, along with four substations and 33.5km of power cables. The onshore wind farms represent Cabo Verde’s first independent power producer (IPP) project and have all been successfully operating since 2012. Cabeólica was recognised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project in 2013. A.P. Moller Capital has been increasing its investment across sub-Saharan Africa’s power industry this year. In April, it notably acquired Iberafrica Power from Naturgy and took control of its 52.5 MW thermal power plant in Kenya. A month later, it established a new joint-venture with Reunert called Lumika Renewables to develop of portfolio of cost efficient renewable energy solutions across the continent. Details on the Cabeólica Wind Farms are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.
TotalEnergies has delayed the commissioning and first gas at its $20bn Mozambique LNG project from 2024 to 2026 following the declaration of Force Majeure earlier this year. The 12.88 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) onshore terminal reached FID in 2019 and was under-construction when the Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado in the north of Mozambique forced TotalEnergies to shut down activity. This leaves the southern African country with only one LNG terminal to be commissioned in the first half of this decade, Eni’s Coral South FLNG. The project relies on a floating LNG (FLNG) vessel and is unaffected by instability and insurgency around the city of Palma. The 3.4 mtpa FLNG unit is expected to start producing gas in 2022 with a final investment decision (FID) on phase 2 expected before 2030. Meanwhile, there is still no visibility on the future of the 15.2 mtpa Rovuma LNG onshore terminal where FID was expected to be taken by ExxonMobil and Eni in 2020 but was also delayed following changing market dynamics and the Covid-19 pandemic. Mozambique entered the current decade with firm ambitions to become a major LNG exporter by 2025. The country was expected to reach a double-digit growth of 11.1% in 2024 and 2025 following the commissioning of Mozambique LNG. Such revisions will now have to be revised downward. Details on the Coral South FLNG, Mozambique LNG and Rovuma LNG projects are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.
