The Investing in African Energy (AOW), the organizers of the Africa Oil Conference, which began on the 07th and ended on the 10th October 2024, in Cape Town, listed 10 infrastructure projects to watch in Africa as the following :
1. Mphanda Nkuwa hydropower project, Mozambique
This project is a 1,500-megawatt (MW) dam on the Zambezi river, 60km downstream of the existing Cahora Bassa dam.
The $5bn project, began in 1998, but was revived by the signing of a joint development agreement between EDF (40%), TotalEnergies (30%) and Sumitomo Corporation (30%).
2. Mauritania-Mali transmission line
The West African Region is building a $900m project with a 1,373km high-voltage power line between Mauritania and Mali, with a capacity of 600MW. It also includes a 50MW solar plant in Kiffa, Mauritania, to connect about 100,000 new households to the grid.
3. Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline
The NNPC Ltd of Nigeria and ONHYM of Morocco, are constructing a 5,600km pipeline, to carry natural gas from Nigeria’s Niger Delta to Morocco and Europe, passing through 13 African countries along the Atlantic coast. This project was announced in 2016 and is expected to cost in the range of $25bn. It will have a capacity of 10 billion cubic metres a year.
4. Lake Albert refinery, Uganda
This project is in its plenary phase and includes the construction of Uganda’s future 60,000-barrel-a-day oil refinery in Hoima district.
5. Namibia green hydrogen project
This is a $9.4bn project to produce green hydrogen from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, in the Tsau Khaeb national park, near the coastal town of Luderitz.
The project is expected to cover an area of 4,000 square km and have a capacity of 300,000 tonnes of green hydrogen a year.
6. Redstone concentrated solar power project, South Africa
The 100MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant being built in the Humansrus solar park could finally be commissioned in 2024.
It is part of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme and will use ThermaVault technology, which combines solar thermal technology with molten salt energy storage, to provide reliable and dispatchable power even after sunset.
7. East African Crude Oil Pipeline Project (EACOP)
The pipeline, 1,443km long, is expected to transport crude oil from Uganda’s Lake Albert oil fields to the port of Tanga in Tanzania. It was announced in 2013 and is expected to cost $5bn, with a capacity of 216,000 barrels a day.
8. Julius Nyerere hydropower project, Tanzania
With a capacity of 2,115MW, the future Rufiji hydropower plant will be one of Africa’s biggest hydroelectric dam.
9. Richards Bay LNG terminal, South Africa
To decarbonize its power and industrial sector, South Africa is planning a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in the port of Richards Bay, in the KwaZulu-Natal province. The multimillion-dollar facility is expected to have an annual capacity of 1 million metric tonnes of LNG, with the potential for expansion to 5 million metric tonnes by 2036.
10. Noor Midelt solar complex, Morocco
The project is a combination of solar power plant, concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) technologies, in the Midelt province of Morocco. It is expected to cost $2.4bn and have a capacity of 800MW.