December 9, 2021 – Page 5 – Madagascar Newswire

December 9, 2021

Globeleq, Africa’s leading independent power company and its partners, Electricidade de Moçambique, E.P. (EDM) and Sasol, have announced financial close of the Central Termica de Temane power project (CTT)

MAPUTO, Mozambique, Dec. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Debt financing of the US$652.3 million project is being provided by IFC, together with its “B” loan participants FMO and Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (together US$253.5 million), US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) (approximately US$191.5 million) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund) (US$50 million). The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) has provided up to $251.3 million in political risk insurance to the private sector equity investors.

Located at Temane in Inhambane Province, CTT consists of a 450 MW gas-fired power plant which will supply power to EDM under a 25-year tolling agreement. CTT is expected to provide electricity to meet the demand of 1.5 million households and will contribute about 14% of the electricity supply capacity available to meet demand in Mozambique.

The project is aligned with the Paris Agreement and will support Mozambique’s longer-term sustainable energy transition to net-zero by 2050. CTT’s flexible technical and commercial configuration allows for a variable supply of baseload and dispatchable power and will deliver complementary power so that Mozambique can maximise renewable energy generation projects on its grid and pursue lower carbon energy development. In addition, the Siemens SGT-800 turbines chosen for the plant can be upgraded to handle high hydrogen content, further reducing the plant’s carbon impact.

CTT also anchors a new 563 km high-voltage transmission line (the Temane Transmission Project (TTP)) and secures the first phase of the interconnection of the southern grid to the central and northern grids of Mozambique. This will establish a corridor of electrification and ensure a more stable and secure grid and enable the connection of future renewable generation projects. The TTP is owned by EDM and will be funded using grant and concessional finance provided by the World Bank, Africa Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, OPEC Fund and the Norwegian Government. Together, the entire value chain (gas development, gas fired power plant and transmission infrastructure) will see an investment of more than US$2 billion.

“This pioneering project has the potential to deliver significant economic and social benefits by helping meet Mozambique’s growing demand for power, support the country’s economic recovery and the region’s energy transition. This is our third power investment in Mozambique, and we remain committed to supporting the sustainable development of the country’s electricity sector”, said Linda Munyengeterwa, IFC’s Regional Industry Director for Infrastructure, Middle East & Africa.

DFC financing for this project will support people and businesses throughout Mozambique by reducing the cost of electricity and increasing generation. These are important development gains that will spur further economic development in communities across the country.

Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, Director General of the OPEC Fund said: “The OPEC Fund supports the development of the Temane power plant, as well as the complementary transmission infrastructure through its private and public sector loan facilities. Our assistance reflects our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goal 7- Affordable and Clean Energy. Once completed, Temane will increase the supply of efficient and affordable energy to households, businesses, and industries, contributing to social and economic development in Mozambique and the region.”

The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Hon. Ernesto Max Elias Tonela confirmed: “As a country that is at risk from the worst effects of climate change, our government fully supports the Paris Agreement. We are working on our long-term decarbonization plans in line with that Agreement and CTT is fully in line with our transition which also includes developing hydro, solar and wind projects.”

The project will be built by the Spanish contractor TSK, utilising efficient and well-proven Siemen’s gas turbine technology. TSK has extensive experience in designing and constructing similarly sized combined-cycle power plants and will leverage their in-country construction experience during the 34-month construction period. CTT is expected to generate around 830 jobs during construction and 90 permanent jobs during operations. This excludes engineering and other work performed off-site. Mozambicans will be prioritized for jobs during both construction and operations. It is estimated that the project will support the creation of 14,000 indirect jobs and livelihoods when it becomes operational in 2024.

Mike Scholey, CEO of Globeleq, indicated: “Globeleq is committed to supporting the Government’s aim of achieving universal electricity access by 2030 and positively impacting the regional energy landscape. The Government of Mozambique, through EDM, is a strategic partner for Globeleq as we grow to develop other projects in renewables, such as the Cuamba solar and battery project and other wind and solar developments underway.”

EDM’s Chairman, Marcelino Gildo Alberto, believes that “a new phase is now opening in the energy sector, with EDM leading the way in the processes of generating increasingly cleaner electricity to promote the country’s industrialisation and export to the regional market.”

Priscillah Mabelane, Executive Vice President for Sasol’s Energy’s Business said: “Sasol is proud to partner with EDM and Globeleq in this exciting Temane project, which will create jobs, enable sustainable and lower carbon energy supply and long-lasting in-country benefits. She added: “Sasol is committed to a meaningful contribution towards the development Mozambique.”

CTT is expected to provide first power in 2024.

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December 9, 2021

South African Hospitals Say Omicron Symptoms Less Severe

As cases of COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant soar in South Africa, hospital officials monitoring the outbreak say patient reports offer compelling evidence the variant causes illness that is less severe than previous forms of the disease.

“Most of the people we’re seeing are having mild or moderate form of COVID-19, and not the severe form that requires hospitalization and may lead to death,” said Dr. Richard Friedland, the chief executive of Netcare, one of South Africa’s largest private hospital groups, based in Johannesburg.

“Patients present with mild to moderate flu-like symptoms, a scratchy or sore throat, a headache, or a runny or blocked nose,” he said.

Similar symptoms are being reported nationwide as hospitals monitor patients.

World health authorities caution that the patient information is preliminary, and they say it is not known how omicron will behave as it spreads more widely.

The World Health Organization says the variant has been found in more than 50 countries. Anecdotal information from countries including the United States so far indicates less severe symptoms than exhibited in previous variants, echoing findings in South Africa hospitals.

“We certainly have information from South Africa that many of the patients that are identified with omicron have a milder course of disease, but it does take time for people to go through the full course of their infection,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead for COVID-19.

South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases reported 20,000 new COVID-19 cases and 36 COVID-19 related deaths Wednesday, the highest numbers since the omicron variant was first detected.

NetCare’s Dr. Friedland said the company’s hospitals are seeing far fewer admissions, however, than in the nation’s earlier phases of COVID-19 and most patients are not suffering enough to need oxygen.

“Ninety percent of the patients we have in the hospital now need no oxygen at all,” he said. “They’re on room air. All they have is mild upper respiratory tract infections.

“So, it’s a very, very different clinical picture,” he said. “That contrasts to 100% of patients that we admitted during the first, the second and the third wave, who were very sick, and all required oxygen therapy.”

Most omicron-positive people in NetCare’s hospitals are what Friedland called “incidental” COVID-19 patients, who come to the hospital because of other emergencies, or to have a surgical procedure, and are subsequently diagnosed with coronavirus.

Roughly 75% of people in NetCare hospitals diagnosed with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, Dr. Friedland said. He added that patient admission data appears to be “clear evidence” that current vaccines offer some protection against omicron.

Some 36% of South Africans are fully vaccinated and the government is strongly urging citizens to get the shots.

Source: Voice of America

December 9, 2021

Calls Grow Worldwide for COVID Booster Shots

Health officials in the United States, Israel and other nations have for months been pushing for COVID-19 booster shots among older populations, and those calls are now growing worldwide. The issue was discussed at an extraordinary meeting at World Health Organization in Geneva convened by SAGE, the 15-member Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on vaccination.

Current data show that vaccines against COVID-19 provide a robust level of protection against severe forms of disease. However, emerging evidence indicates vaccines begin to lose their effectiveness about six months after they have been administered. This puts older adults and people with underlying conditions at particular risk.

Chair of SAGE, Alejandro Cravioto, says the group of experts agrees a booster shot would provide a greater level of protection for people at risk. However, he notes vaccines are in short supply in many parts of the world. He says the wide administration of booster doses risks exacerbating inequities in vaccine access.

He notes most current infections are among unvaccinated people, the majority of whom live in poor, developing countries. He says SAGE believes they should receive these life-saving vaccines instead of further doses being provided to people who already are fully inoculated against the coronavirus.

“For the time being, we continue to support — one, the need for equity in the distribution and allocation of vaccines and, two, the use of third doses only on those that we have previously recommended. Those that have received inactivated vaccines and those that are immuno-compromised, which are the two groups that we feel should be protected further by a third dose of the primary process,” he said.

Cravioto said meeting participants also discussed the feasibility of mixing and matching different vaccines, such as those developed by Pfizer and Moderna to achieve full immunity against COVID.

“WHO supports a flexible approach to homologous or a single platform versus a heterologous mix and match schedules. We still believe that the best approach is to use the same vaccine for the two primary doses,” Cravioto said.

For national immunization programs, however, he said a different vaccine can be used for an additional third dose. This, if the vaccine used for the two primary shots is in short supply and unavailable.

Source: Voice of America