Africa’s renewable energy set to soar

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

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

“A big chunk of this growth is hydro because of Ethiopia, but then you have solar in South Africa, Nigeria and Namibia, and wind in South Africa and Ethiopia as well,” said Paolo Frankl, the head of the renewable division at the Paris-based International Energy Agency.

He forecast installed capacity of renewable energy in the sub-Sahara region almost doubling from about 35 gigawatts now to above 60GW, given the right conditions.

Ethiopia has a number of hydropower projects under construction, including the $4.1billion (R58.7bn) Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile River that will churn out 6 000 MW when completed.

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

The transition to a low-carbon trajectory to reduce harmful greenhouse gases is creating opposition from the coal industry. – Reuters