African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) has said that the establishment of Dangote Oil Refinery will bring about a 36 per cent reduction in the importation of petroleum productions into the continent.

Besides, the organisation expressed a belief that the success of Dangote Refinery project could incentivise the rise of similar projects across Africa despite the current focus on energy transition.

The Secretary-General, African Petroleum Producers Organisation, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, said in an interview that Dangote Refinery shall be supplying over 12% of Africa’s products demand when it becomes operational.

Ibrahim stated, “To appreciate the impact that the Dangote refinery is going to have on African economies and especially on the supply of petroleum products, and to some extent the conservation of scarce foreign exchange, a look at some statistics on the continent’s petroleum products demand and supply is in order.

“Currently, Africa’s daily petroleum demand is 4.3 million barrels per day (mbd). Of this volume, 57% is produced locally (on the continent) while 43% is imported. When Dangote is fully onstream, the percentage of Africa’s products import shall drop to 36%. This is even as the total volume of products demand rises to 5.4 mbd. You can therefore see the huge impact that Dangote refinery shall be making to overall products supply in Africa. Dangote shall be supplying over 12% of Africa’s products demand.

“That is huge savings for a continent that has scarce foreign exchange and little to export. We shall save from buying abroad and from shipping and insurance costs. Furthermore, the success of Dangote could incentivise the rise of similar projects, the noise about energy transition notwithstanding,” oil analyst noted.

Ibrahim also hailed Dangote’s decision to go ahead with the construction of crude oil refinery despite a campaign against fossil fuels, adding that the demand for fossil fuel is going to continue for several decades to come.

“We believe that Dangote made a very wise decision to proceed with the project, despite the campaign against fossil fuels. There will be demand for petroleum products for many decades to come. Indeed, we see petroleum products prices rising steadily in the next few years for at least two decades.

“This is because new refineries are not coming up in Europe and North America, where Africa imports 34% of its supplies, because their governments have embraced energy transition, some willingly, others due to pressure. So, some of the sources of Africa’s imports are going to dry up. At the same time, Africa will not be in a position to fast track the development of non-fossil fuels.

“In fact, even the developed countries will not be able to move as fast as is projected. We see Africa and many regions of the world continuing to rely on fossil fuel energy at a time when deliberate decisions are being made to stop funding fossil fuel projects. The world risks abandoning fossil for renewable, but in the end not getting the renewables, and at the same time losing the fossils due to deliberate neglect”, he explained.

Ibrahim urged African refiners to invest more on technology and develop the right expertise to manage their refineries, which are going to serve the continent as western refiners halt the establishment of more refineries.

He stated, “African refiners have no cause to worry about their investments. All they need to do is to ensure that they have developed the right expertise to manage their refineries, get honest managers and staff to run their business and come together to join APPO’s initiative to establish foundries and other equipment manufacturing plants to service their refineries. Once they have these, the market is there for their products.

“For the next three decades or more, Africa shall continue to use fossil fuel-driven vehicles and with its population projected to double within that period, there will be a huge market for petroleum products. Africa cannot rapidly transit into electric vehicles, as the bulk of the vehicles on our roads today and in the next 20-30 years are going to be non-electric. There is the market, and we should not be discouraged from thinking positively”, the APPO scribe noted.

He disclosed that APPO is working with its Member Countries to construct cross border energy infrastructure like pipelines for crude and products as well as for oil and gas terminals, depots etc.

“Once we have this infrastructure on the ground, the markets for African refiners shall not be limited to their home countries. Fortuitously, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which came into force in 2021, is there to support this initiative”, he added.

For the past couple of months, residents of two small towns on the southern coast of Sweden have been experiencing a peculiar nighttime phenomenon – the sky turning a bright magenta.

The people Gislov and Trelleborg, two small Swedish towns located about 10 minutes apart, were originally alarmed by the bright purple sky above them, but their worries were quickly put to rest by the representatives of a nearby tomato farm, who explained that the unnatural night sky color was caused by a new energy-saving system they had installed.

The large LED installation cast a purple light on the plants, stimulating growth, but also glowed upwards, illuminating low clouds from below and creating a sci-fi effect.

Photos of the purple night sky started circulating on social media, getting mostly positive reactions from users who loved the otherworldly effect, but things were very different on location. Residents in both Gislov and Trelleborg started complaining about the bright purple lights, saying that they shone into their homes at night, making it difficult to fall asleep.

On November 6, the tomato plant, one of the largest in Sweden, began turning the lights off between the hours of 5pm and 11pm, and also put out a statement explaining their decision.

“As a first step, we have chosen to turn off the entire tomato cultivation in the evenings,” the statement by Alfred Pedersen & Son read. “Although this will be a step back for us. People were not meant to be angry. We just wanted to save electricity and grow more.”

Swedish outlet SVT recently reported that the purple light also seems to confuse birds in the area, as they reportedly “get caught” in the light and fly around in it for hours. No on knows exactly why birds do this, but it’s a known phenomenon observed primarily around lighthouses  and strong projectors that create visible light cones.

The government is working on reducing electricity tariffs for both domestic and industrial use following the growing public outcry.

The country’s sole electricity supplier, ESCOM provides power to consumers through prepaid and post-paid metres.

Consumers question the billing system as they usually pay huge bills for electricity despite low consumption of power especially in homes.

Minister of Energy, Atupele Muluzi, has said blackouts would come to a complete end by 2025.

He said the government is deploying effort to ensure that number of people with access to electricity in the country increases from the current 11 percent to 30 percent by 2030.

Since 2016, Malawi has seen persistent blackouts all over the country.

Manufacturing companies have been mostly hit by the problem as there outputs have lowered.

Figures from the Ministry of Finance indicated that the manufacturing industry only managed to record a growth of 1.8 percent in 2018.

In its 2018 Annual Economic Report, the Treasury says frequent power outages heavily impacted manufacturing performance as factories could not operate full time.

Currently, Malawi is facing 3-4 hours load shedding per day.

The Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) would like to assure the general public
that the country has sufficient internal fuel stock cover, currently equivalent to forty-three
(43) days for Petrol and eighty-three (83) days for Diesel.

Further, MERA would like to inform the public that the country continues to receive Liquid
Fuels and Gas (LFG) from the ports of Beira, Nacala and Dar es Salaam without restraint;
and stakeholders in the fuel supply industry are alert to ensure an effective and efficient
response to any impending disruption to LFG supply.

Although Malawi has not registered any case of coronavirus, the pandemic necessitates
a strategic approach to be taken in the preparedness, management and recovery of a
potential fuels and gas supply disturbance.

It is in this light that MERA has activated the
National Emergency Response Plan and will proceed to work with the National Liquid
Fuels and Gas Emergency Management Committee and Operations Management Group
which are provided for in the Response Plan.

MERA thanks all fuel importers, transporters, oil marketing companies, retailers,
government ministries and departments, banks and all stakeholders for the great
coordinated approach that has been taken and resulted in our country having healthy fuel
stocks at a time that the world is under the coronavirus threat.

MERA will continue to update the public of the fuel supply situation in the country as and
when necessary.

Dr. Collins Magalasi
Chief Executive Officer
Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority

Tel: 01 774 103/ 01 775 810/812 Email: mera@meramalawi.mw

Australian listed uranium company, Paladin Energy Limited says it has completed the sale of its 85 percent interest in the Kayelekera Uranium Mine project under Paladin Africa to Lotus Resources Limited (65 percent) and Lily Resources Pty Ltd (20 percent).

The mining firm, will however, hold the interest on trust pending receipt of the final in-country approvals.

Following the sale, Paladin will cut its cash expenditure by about $5-million a year according to a statement issued on Friday.

In the statement, Paladin Chief Executive Officer, Ian Purdy, said the company’s total cash spent for 2021 financial year is forecast to be less than $10 million.

“The completion of the sale is a positive step forward for Paladin and one which will deliver significant financial benefits to the company. We can now prioritise our efforts and resources on maximising the value of our world class Langer Heinrich operation.

“We are also pleased to be a major shareholder of Lotus Resources Limited and look forward to their future success in adding value to the Kayelekera mine in Malawi,” Purdy says.

In December 2019, the Malawi government gave a statutory consent for Paladin Energy Limited to divest its 85 percent interest in the Kayelekera mine project.

The deal entails Malawi retaining its 15 percent stake in the uranium mine.

Paladin’s stake in Kayelekera was sold for $5 million, comprising $200,000 in cash and $4.8 million in Hylea shares.

A woman who was overweight at the start of 2019 ended the year with a slender physique and she shared photos of her before and now on Twitter.

“One of my favorite flex from 2019,” she wrote.

However, she did not state how she achieved the amazing transformation.

But here is post she tweeted on her twitter platform below:

Communities in Rumphi District who applied for the installation of electricity in the district have given the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) a period of Fourteen days to connect their houses to power or else face a mass demonstrations.

During a meeting held on Monday initiated by the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) some residents complained that they paid the power utility body in 2014 for the installation of power but up to now there is no any progress to justify their payment hence calling for a mass demonstration.

Through out the meeting ESCOM officials continued making contradictory remarks trying to justify their delay to install power to the applicants, who also demanded answers on some serious allegations of corrupt practices taking place at the District Escom office where some officers are said to be demanding bribes.

In response to the allegations of corrupt practices during question time , Mzuzu ESCOM District Engineer George Matukuta shifted the blame to the absence of the Access to Information (ATI) law which is still gathering dusti in the minister’s office pending signature to effect its usage.

The ATI could be very essential in circumstances like this because that will help the population to know exactly how state owned institutions like ESCOM operates hence promotion of accountability and transparency at all levels,”

He further told the gathering that ESCOM is failling to meet the cost of power installation to its new customers since all the required appliances including the poles and cables are now being procured from outside the country unlike in the past when the Viphya Plantations (Chikangawa forest) used to be the source of supply

One of the participant to this citizenry engagement meeting,Maggie Kaunda astonished the gathering when she informed the ESCOM officials and HRDC leaders that her son was electrocuted by a faulty power line and now her child is mentally ill but never got compensated in anyway.

Speaking after the meeting the HRDC District Secretary Walita Moir Mkandawire expressed satisfaction with the citizenry participation in engaging duty bearers demanding accountability on pertinent issues affecting their daily living.

As one way of ensuring speed installation to its customers late last year the power utility body raised the installation fee from K46 000.00 to K93 000.00 with the aim of trying to meet the whole cost of connection process.

At least 6 diesel generators at Mapanga power station in Blantyre are not working as power outages are worsening by each day.

The revelation has been made following a surprise by the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources at the power Station.

According to the Committee’s chairperson Welani Chilenga, the generators have been down for a month.

A surprise visit by the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources to Mapanga power station in #Blantyre has found that 6 out of 10 diesel generators are not working.

Commenting on the issue, Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO) officials said the generators came into the country without spare parts that would be used to fix them once they breakdown.

Authorities for Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO) and Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) have said Malawians will still be experiencing power outages until 2022.

The revelation has been made after Parliamentary committee on natural resources summoned EGENCO and ESCOM officials as well as official from Water development ministries to give an explanation on the current power outages.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for EGENCO William Liabunya said for the meantime, Malawi is using 90 percent of hydro power and only 10 percent of diesel generated power.

According to Liabunya, the power which is being generated now cannot meet the demand as the water levels are still low.

Engineer for the department of water development, Tony Nyasulu has however crashed with Liabunya saying that water levels in the Shire River have slightly increased compared to last years.

Commenting on the matter ESCOM CEO Dr. Alexious Chiwaya said despite that water levels are high, Malawians will have to wait for the interconnection project as that is the only way to address power outage problems.

Commenting on the issues that were raised during the meeting, Welani Chilenga Chairperson for parliamentary committee on natural resources, described ESCOM and EGENCO’s efforts as fruitless saying the two have failed Malawians.

Blackouts range from 5 to 6 hours daily across the nation despite sustained efforts to have alternative power generation sources.

The Zimbabwean authorities have prohibited the residents from using electric water heaters due to the extremely high energy consumption of such devices.

According to the reports, the heaters consume up to 400MW of power a day while the country itself is only able to produce 563MW.

“No owner of the premises after the effective day of these regulations shall connect electrical geysers but may, at his or her own expense, install and use solar water heating systems,” the regulations said.

The electricity insufficiency remains one of Zimbabwe’s main issues, so the government attempts to switch its generation capacities to another source, in particular, to the systems that operate on solar energy.

The latest data shows there are 300, 000 electric heaters installed across the country.

By Robert Kumwenda

Government has repeated saying that energy is instrumental to sustainable development, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Natural Resources and Mining Patrick Matanda said during the African Hydro symposium organized by the Energy Generating Company (EGENCO) in Blantyre.

Matanda said a lot of countries in Africa including Malawi are facing challenges in the energy sector due to change in climatic conditions saying that this is not good news because when power is missing other resources needed for sustainable development will also be missing.

“If we are to develop as a nation we need power and it is my hope that the meeting will explore the need for renovations and improved technologies in the context of climate change,” he said.

Matanda also said other companies are welcome to invest in the energy sector because most companies are using generators.

He also said that it is not the work of government alone to improve the challenges that are in the energy sector, development partners and the private sector have also a role to play to explore and find the real solutions to the power sector.

Speaking at the same symposium, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) William Liabunya said there vision is to create a better Malawi through power generation.

He said as a new growing company, they are geared to contribute to development of power sector in Africa.

“We launched our fifteen year strategic plan this year and the three projects that will shape the power industry in Malawi. We want to generate power that is sustainable and reliable,” he said.

Liabunya said government of Malawi unbundled the Electricity Supply Commission of Malawi (ESCOM) and a new company was born in the name of EGENCO.

About ten countries from Africa and four from the overseas are attending the symposium.

Zimbabwe is left with one month of electricity supply from Kariba dam a senior executive from the Zimbabwe Power Company has said.

Speaking to journalists on Monday during an Energy journalism workshop held at Jameson Hotel in Harare Bernard Chizengeya the Business Performance Manager for ZPC said, “The minimum level of generating electricity at Kariba is 475 m level and we are at 478 m which means we are left with 3m”

He said by September the country may cease to generate power from the dam.

Chizengeya added that, “What we also need is to support and revive Hwange and small thermals plants. They have since surpassed their life span but we continue to use them because we have no choice.

“Most projects will start to generate power by 2022, so what will happen between now and then. The immediate solution is to import, but we owe suppliers a lot of money.”

Zimbabwe is facing an acute shortage of electricity which has seen the country implement up to 18 hours of load shedding.

– Byo24News

About 150, 000 households in Malawi are set to have access to electricity in the next three years following the launch of the Solar Home System Kick-Starter program for Malawi.

The Programe, which is being funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), aims at working with the private sector in order to increase the country`s renewable energy generation capacity.

Power Africa Energy Advisor at USAID Andrew Spahn said the project supports companies with an intention of assisting provision of affordable electricity sources for off-grid communities in the country.

“Essentially, we are working with the private sector in its full force to deliver more solar home systems across Malawi,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chief Director in the Department of Energy under the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Chimwemwe Banda has commended the commencement of the project citing that it will reach out to the intended masses in the rural settings.

“To government, this is a plus, because we are going to slowly close the gap that is there by working with other investors and Independent power producers when it comes to access of electricity in the country, especially people in rural areas,” said Banda.

Already, Kick-Starter Program has supported around 3, 000 connections which represents an up to 1% increase in the number of households with electricity across the country.

On her part, Regional Energy Officer at USAID Southern Africa Ashley King said the programme will assist in stimulating access to electricity among the targeted households.

“The programme will help in accelerating access to electricity and also increase the supply of generation and transmission,” said King.

The current electrification rate in Malawi stands at about 11 percent in the country, with only 4 percent access rate in rural areas.

Source : YFM

The past immediate vice president Dr. Saulos Chilima will no longer have 46 security guards as the have been withdrawn from working to Chilima.

Police guards who were assigned to Chilima have not been only removed but they have been transferred into remote rural areas in the northern region with immediate effect.

Meanwhile the new vice president Everton Chimulirenji has taken the MG 2 protocols number plate of his official car.

The police officers who have been redeployed have describe their fate as a way of punishment.

Most of the redeployed police officers have been relocated to police or sub-police stations such as Nthalire in Chitipa, Kafukule, Emfeni and Euthini in Mzimba, Ntchenachena in Rumphi, usisya in Nkhatabay and Chizumulu in Likoma

In May 21 elections the central and northern regions gave more of their votes to Opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and United Transformation Movement (UTM) leaving out Mutharika with southern region votes.

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has fired his minister of energy and power development, Joram Gumbo over power outage for 8 hrs per day across the country.

Zimbabwe is said to be experiencing the worst electricity blackouts since 2016 according to BBC.

These blackouts come after the minister Joram Gumbo licenced over 30 companies to provide solar power to the country and concluded plans to travel to Mozambique, a neighbouring country, to make an arrangement for an electricity supply deal.

Gumbo has now been replaced by Fortune Chasi, the deputy minister for transport and infrastructural development.

The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), the state-owned power firm, said there would be blackouts for about eight hours daily because of a drop in output at its largest hydro plant and ageing coal-fired generators.

“The power shortfall is being managed through load shedding in order to balance the power supply available and the demand,” ZETDC had said in a public notice.

Due to low water levels and poor coal supplies to the generating plants, the country is currently producing 969 megawatts (MW) daily against peak demand of 2,100 MW.

Zimbabwe is reported to have experienced very low rainfall during the 2018-2019 raining season with most water bodies drying up.

On Monday, Reuters had reported that the last time Zimbabwe experienced such serious power outage was in 2016 after a devastating drought.

By Orchestra Kamanga

The Chief Executive Officer for Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) Dr Collins Magalasi says the country cannot run gensets for more than 6 hours because running the generators is much expensive and would not be tenable by power utility.

Magalasi was speaking recently in Blantyre during a stakeholder meeting which was held at Mount Soche hotel.

But with persistent power problems for several years, Malawi now had to source gensets to ease the crisis in a short term whilst it looks for a long term solution.

One such long term solution is Thermo power plant that is to be created wholly at Kammwamba along the Blantyre-Lilongwe road.

Thermo power is the oldest mode of Energy which has been used in all developed countries and abandoned but is still one of the main power source in China and many countries.

Fortunately the government is now embarking on laying Thermo as a solution this nightmare are-thus thermo power plant at Kammwamba.

According to most social commenters, this is a very positive development and they are happy with that indeed.

But one of such social commenters who agrees that it’s time to go into Thermo power, Maxwell Mapemba finds the location of the plant being dangerous to the environment because it is just a kilometer or so from the Shire River.

Thermo power produces a lot of coal residues into the sky.

“A full environmental study site the dangers to the river should been undertaken so that one day we don’t wake up and say that the shire River has been contaminated with local ash from the plant causing death to the fish downwards as well as wearing the power plant,” said Maxwell Mapemba who also operates Gel Stove company at Chinyonga Township in Blantyre.

Kammwamba power plant which will be constructed by the Chinese company will be based in Neno district.