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The government of South Africa has approved the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP2019), a power sector development roadmap until 2030. The IRP2019 proposes nine interventions to ensure the power supply will meet energy needs over the next decade. The plan takes into account international obligations to the minimum emission standards. The IRP2019 also aims at diversifying the energy mix, to reduce reliance on coal, which covers 89% of South Africa’s power generation and 70% of its primary energy consumption (2018).

Under the IRP2019, the government plans to commission 6.7 GW of new coal capacity by 2030, including the Medupi and Kusile power plants currently under construction. Meanwhile, the document foresees that 5.4 GW of old coal-fired capacity will be decommissioned by 2022, and another 5.1 GW by 2030. 

Capacity additions by 2030 are planned to reach 6.5 GW of solar PV, 9.5 GW of wind and 8.1 GW of gas- and diesel-fired units. Coal will represent 44.6% of the country’s installed capacity in 2030, while other fossil fuels-fired technologies will account for 15.7%, wind for 15%, solar PV for 10.5% and hydropower for 6.2%. The government will also extend the design life of the 1,940 MW Koeberg nuclear power plant, which is set to reach its end of life in 2024.

Regarding the demand, the government forecasts an annual growth rate of the electricity consumption comprised between 1.3%/year and 2%/year until 2030 (depending on the scenario), then between 1.2%/year and 1.6%/year between 2030 and 2050. 

 

The Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy will hold two auctions on 31 March 2020 to contract thermal (gas-fired or coal-fired) power plants. The new facilities would replace old diesel-fired power plants, whose contracts will expire in the upcoming years. One auction would be an A-4 auction (projects delivery within four years, i.e.

Ukrtransgaz has completed modernization works at the Komarno compressor station in Lviv region (Ukraine). The station is part of the Ukraine-Poland interconnector and, with this upgrade, increases Ukraine’s gas import capacity from Poland to 6.6 bcm/year (from previous 1.5 bcm/year).

Created in 2017 to better coordinate aid for the region, The Sahel Alliance, which includes France, Germany, the European Union and international backers such as the World Bank, has mobilized €4bn with the objective to double the electrification rate of G5 Sahel members countries (Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad) by 2022. …

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) reached an annual record in 2018 at 1.8 mb/d. Crude oil production should continue to rise in 2019 and 2020, in spite of shut-ins related to hurricanes (Hurricane Barry in July 2019 and forecast adjustments for future hurricanes in 2019 and 2020).

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a THB3bn (US$99m) investment in Energy Absolute, which has just issued green bonds worth THB10bn (US$330m) to finance its 260 MW Hanuman wind power project in Thailand. Energy Absolute is one of the largest renewable power companies in Thailand with four solar parks and two wind power plants with an installed capacity of 664 MW.

Australian independent gas producer Woodside Petroleum expects to reach an agreement with its partners, including Shell and BP, to start preliminary engineering for its A$30bn (US$20bn) Browse LNG project by the end of 2019. However, it has delayed the final investment decision (FID) on the project from late 2020 to the first half of 2021.