Solar Power

Total Eren signs Shareholders Agreement for 35 MW solar PV project in Angola

The Shareholders Agreement for the project was signed on October 8th. Picture: Total Eren.

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Sonangol, Total Eren, and Greentech – Angola Environment Technology Ltd (Greentech) have announced that they executed last week the Shareholders Agreement establishing their partnership on the 35 MWp Quilemba Solar project in Angola.

According to the agreement, Sonangol will be acquiring a 30% interest in Quilemba Solar Lda, while Total Eren and Greentech will own 51% and 19% respectively.

The plant will be constructed in Lubango, capital of Angola’s Huíla Province. It has been in the making since late 2020, when Total Eren and Greentech signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Angolan Ministry of Energy and Water (MINEA) for the its construction and operation.

Quilemba Solar is one of many utility-scale solar projects currently being developed in Angola, in line with the country’s vision to commission up to 500 MW of renewable energy capacity between 2022 and 2025.

Italian major Eni is also involved in the development of a 50 MW solar PV plant in the country at the Bibala Municipality in the Namibe Province under a joint-venture with Sonangol called Solenova.

Earlier this year, the consortium of Sun Africa, MCA Solar Angola and Hitachi ABB Power Grids also broke ground on 370 MW of solar PV projects in the country. These are split across seven different facilities now under-construction, including the 188.88 MWdc Biopioa solar plant and the 96.70 MWdc Benguela solar plant.

Last month, Sun Africa took its commitment to Angola a step further with the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the development of Africa’s largest mini-grid and rural electrification project at a cost of $1.5bn.

Full details on Sun Africa, Total Eren and Solenova’s solar projects in Angola are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.

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AIIM closes $370m financing for IDEAS Managed Fund – plans to keep investing in renewable energy

African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) has announced it has successfully completed a capital increase of ZAR 5.5 bn (about $370m) for its IDEAS Managed Fund (IDEAS) dedicated to infrastructure financing in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. “The new commitments were secured from 19 key South African institutional and pension fund investors, with two thirds of the capital being committed by new investors to the Fund,” AIIM said in a statement. The fundraise notably exceeded the company’s initial ZAR4.5bn ($301m) target by 20% and has taken the size of the open-ended fund to over ZAR 22 bn ($1.475bn). IDEAS has already been a critical investor in some of Southern Africa’s most famous sustainable infrastructure projects, and has allocated 75% of its capital so far to the renewable energy space. Such investments have notably seen the fund invest in several solar PV plants under South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). Freshly raised capital will support the expansion of IDEAS’ portfolio in additional sustainable infrastructure assets, with additional investment likely to be made into South Africa’s new renewable energy projects currently at the procurement stage.

Kosmos Energy consolidates interests in Ghana’s producing Jubilee and TEN fields

Kosmos Energy has just announced the close of a transaction by which it has acquired an additional 18% in the Jubilee Field and an additional 11% in the TEN Fields in Ghana from Occidental Petroleum (OXY) for a price of $550m. Both assets were previously chased by TotalEnergies as part of its broader acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum’s assets in Africa. However, the French major and OXY had mutually agreed in May 2020 to execute a waiver of the obligation to purchase and sell them, so that OXY could begin marketing their sale to other third parties. Both fields are served by a different floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel and are operated by Tullow Oil. Jubilee achieved first oil in 2020 and produced an average of 71,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in Q2 2021 with production currently increasing as a result of an ongoing drilling campaign. TEN achieved first oil in 2016 and produced an average of 37,000 bopd in H1 2021. Source: PIAC Kosmos Energy is familiar with both assets and has been present in the licences since the exploratory phase several years ago. Subject to pre-empty rights, the transaction could increase the company’s interests in Jubilee to 42.1% and in TEN to 28.1%. Both projects have significant remaining potential and form the core of Tullow Oil’s growth and cash generation strategy this decade. “The acquired assets are expected to generate about $1bn of free cash flow by the end of 2026 at $65/bbl Brent,” Kosmos Energy said in a statement. The American independent also expects payback in less than three years if oil prices remain at an average of $65/bbl or above. By simplifying the partnerships that run both fields, maintaining the pace of investments to develop additional reserves is also expected to be easier. A key focus will notably be on additional gas monetization from both fields in order to support Ghana’s gas-to-power industry. Full details on both the Jubilee and TEN Fields Development are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.