Across Africa: Madagasca hydro plant; Equatorial Guinea new oil finds

The Madaga scan water and electricity company and an Italian par tner a re planning to build a hy d ro ele c t r i c p owe r pla n t i n A n t a n a n a r ivo . C om bi n e d with two sola r i n s tallation s , t he facili ty will p ro duc e 3 5 MW of elec tricity to fill the energy gap in and around the c a pi t a l of M a d a g a s c a r. T h e complaints published on social n e t wo rk s by I n te r n e t u s e r s a gai n s t Ji rama , t he national water and electricity company, a re re c u r rent a nd nume rou s i n Mada ga s ca r. Accordi ng to figures published by the World Ba n k i n 2 018 , only 15% of the population ha s acce s s to el e c t r i ci t y i n t h i s s o u t h e r n African country.

To improve electricity supply, the count r y ’s authoritie s a re now fo c u si n g o n r e n ewa bl e energies. A n option for which Madagascar has great potential: 2 ,000 kW h/m ²/year thank s to the 2,800 hours of sunshine per year, in terms of solar energy. Howeve r, M a da ga s c a r ’s new energy project will not only rely on solar energy. It will combine both the sun and the streng th of waterfalls. This includes the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in A ntananarivo, which also includes two adjacent solar in stallation s. The three units will have a total capacity

of 35 megawatts to supply the city of A nta na na rivo a nd it s surroundings.

According to Jirama, the project will be operational by 2020. To address this issue, the national water and electricity company, which has been undergoing some renovation since August 14, 2019, ha s entered into a par tnership with the Italian company Tozzi Green, a company specialising in solutions, services and projects for the development of facilities and the production of energy from renewable sources.

I t i s i m p o r ta n t to p a y a t t e n t i o n t o a q u a t i c biodiversity

On the other hand, electricity p r o d u c t io n f r om r ive r s h a s b e en denou nc e d i n a r e c en t study conducted by the Leibniz I n s ti t u te of F r e s hwa te r a n d I n la n d F i s he r ie s E colo g y i n G e r m a n y . T h e r e s e a r c h e r s compiled data on 126 megafauna species living in rivers and lakes around the world, a s well a s information on the geographical di s t ri bution of 44 specie s in Europe and the United States. R e s u l t s : B e t we e n 19 70 a n d 2012, the freshwater megafauna declined by 88%. The pace at which these ver tebrates decline is estimated to be twice a s fa st

a s for ter re s t rial or o cea nic a n i m a l s . T h i s m e a n s t h a t envi ronmental impac t s tudie s in hyd roelectric project s will have to be stepped up, given the large freshwater biological reserve. Rivers and lakes cover only 1% of the world’s surface area, but they are home to one third of all ver tebrate species and nearly half of all fish. It i s perhap s to compen sate for t hi s a s p e c t t ha t Mada ga s ca r relies much more on solar energy amon g all r enewa ble ene rg y resources. All the regions benefit from more than 2 ,800 hours of sunshine per year, making the Big I sla nd the ideal site for developing solar energy, which could repre sent a capacity of 2,000 kWh/m²/year. A potential that the State is counting on to meet its objective: to provide acce s s to energ y for 70% of Malaga sy households by 2030. To help achieve this objective, t h e S c a l i n g S ol a r i n i ti a tive launched by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a subsidiary of the World Bank Group, signed an agreement with the government of Madaga scar i n M a r c h 2 016 to de si g n a power plant of about 25 MW connected to the A ntananarivo g r i d . T h e p r oj e c t i n cl u d e s requirements for storing solar energy by connecting the plant with batteries.

Eq u a t o r i a l G u i n e a ’ s Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons (MMH) is pleased to announce that U.S. oil and ga s company No bl e E n e r g y h a s m a d e a discovery in offshore Block I MALABO, Equatorial Guinea, A ug u s t 2 7, 2 019/ - - Noble Energy makes oil discovery in Block I, located in Equatorial Guinea’s offshore sector; The well wa s d rille d to a total depth of 4,417 meters and is expected to produce first oil in October 2019; A s a champion of oil and ga s development in Africa, Minister of Mines and Hyd ro ca rbon s H .E . Ga b riel Mbaga Obiang Lima will lead the conversation on the future of natural gas on the continent at t he Af rica Oil & Power event in Cape Town on October 9-11 2019.

Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Mi ne s a nd Hyd ro ca rbon s (MMH) is pleased to announce that U.S. oil and ga s company No bl e E n e r g y h a s m a d e a di s cover y i n off shore Blo ck I . T he A s en g 6P well wa s drilled to a total depth of 4,417 meters. Noble is currently in the proces s of completing the 400 -meter horizontal section of the well and, using existing A seng field infra structure, is expected to produce oil from

October 2019. “We are excited to a n nou nc e t hi s di s cove r y which could not have come a t a mo r e o p p o r t u ne time . We have b e en de dicate d to developi ng ou r re sou rce s to build a bet ter economy a nd create oppor tunitie s for ou r p e o p l e a n d , i t s e e m s w e a r e g a i n i n g m o m e n t u m ,” said Mi ni s ter of Mi ne s a nd Hyd ro ca rbon s H .E . Ga b riel Mbaga Obiang Lima. He added that : “It’s alway s been ou r firm belief that our country i s relatively u nderex plore d . When companies drill offshore E q u a t o r i a l G u i n e a , t h e i r l i kel i ho o d fo r a d i s c ov e r y i s r e a l . No bl e E n e r g y a n d par tners are long time friends of Equatorial Guinea and it is only fitting that we should build on our oil and gas development effor ts with them right by our side. This is g reat news for our economy, jobs creation and lo cal content development .” T he A seng field con si s t s of five su b sea well s con nec te d to a FPSO ves sel. With a 40 percent interest, Noble Energy i s operator. O t her pa r t ner s include Atla s Petroleum (29 percent), Glencore Exploration (25 percent) and Gunvor (6 percent).

become Africa’s premier gas hub with the signing of definitive agreements with the Alen field pa r tner s a nd P u nta Eu ropa Pl a n t ow n e r s to m o n e t i z e gas from the Noble Energyoperated Alen field – a project known a s the Ga s Megahub. A s the count r y develop s it s gas resources, Minister Obiang Lima said earlier this year that it wa s also targeting a final ag reement on its 2007 joint deal with Cameroon to develop gas condensate discoveries Yoyo and Yolanda on their maritime border.

Minister Obiang Lima alongside A n t o n i o O b u r u , G e n e r a l Director of Equatorial Guinea’s national oil company GEPetrol, w i l l l e a d a d el e g a t i o n of companies active in Equatorial G u i n e a to t h e A f r i c a O i l & P ow e r C o n f e r e n c e a n d Exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa on October 9 -11 2019. Joining the minister will be BANGE, Centurion Law Group, Noble Energy, Marathon Oil, Golden Swan, Baker Hughes, K o s m o s E n e r g y , T r i d e n t E n e r g y, Tu l l ow O i l , E l i t e Construcciones, Schlumberger, NAHSCO, Hexagon and NALCO Champion.