Renewable energy set to soar in Africa

STRONG demand is set to give a huge boost to renewable energy growth in sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years, driving cumulative capacity up more than 70%, a senior international energy official said yesterday.

From Ethiopia to South Africa, millions of people have access to electricity for the first time as the continent turns to solar, wind and hydropower projects to boost generation capacity.

Paolo Frankl, head of the renewable division at the Paris-based International Energy Agency, saw installed capacity of renewable energy in the sub-Sahara region almost doubling from about 35 gigawatts now to more than 60GW, given the right conditions.

Ethiopia has an array of hydropower projects under construction, including the $4.1-billion (R59-billion) Grand Renaissance Dam along the Nile River which will churn out 6 000MW upon completion. That is enough for a city for a year.

“Africa has one of the best potential resources of renewables anywhere in the world, but it depends very much on the enabling framework, on the governance and the right rules,” Frankl said on the sidelines of a wind energy conference.

The move to reduce harmful greenhouse gases is creating opposition from the coal industry and fuelling uncertainty in countries where job creation is linked to coal mining.

This tension is best illustrated by Eskom’s reluctance in South Africa to sign new deals with independent power producers, analysts say.