Africa is betting on renewable energies for its electrification

For many observers, Africa has a formidable opportunity to avoid the deadlock of a development based on hydrocarbons and directly electrify its territories from renewable energies.It is true that the continent, populated by more than 1.3 billion inhabitants, has enormous potential in terms of solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass and biogas energy.

Even if the situation is obviously not uniform on the whole continent, Africa has already started the exploitation of its potential, especially in terms of photovoltaic solar energy.According to the International Agency for Renewable Energies (Irena), Africa has a solar energy potential of 10 TW.Currently, two technologies make it possible to convert the natural energy of the sun to electricity, photovoltaic solar and thermodynamic solar.Some African countries are already redoubled efforts to take advantage of this abundant natural resource.

Energy development carried by solar

Thanks to a single project, in particular the Benban Solar Complex in the Governorate of Assouan, Egypt has developed a solar capacity of 1,650 MWC, for a renewable energy production capacity of more than 6 GW, combining thehydroelectricity and wind.But the share of solar should still rise in the Egyptian electric mix, which is currently 14 %, thanks to Cairo policy aimed at producing 42 % of its electricity from renewable primary energy sources by2035.

At the other end of the continent, in South Africa, the recent energy transition strategy developed by the authorities has enabled the construction of new solar power plants, bringing solar capacity to 2,323 MW, the equivalent of the electrical capacity installed inA country like Côte d'Ivoire (2,200 MW, officially).

At the continent level, solar power plants totaled a production capacity of 4.15 GWC in 2017, including more than half in South Africa, according to the 2018 report of the International Agency for Renewable Energies (Irena).Since then, this capacity has largely increased with the commissioning of many power plants in South Africa, the Benban Solar Complex in Egypt, the inauguration of the Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex (580 MW) in Morocco, as well as othersSolar power plants connected to networks in sub -Saharan Africa.

A power station in the Scatec group in the Benban complex in Egypt © SCATEC

If solar energy is currently experiencing such a dazzling development in Africa, it is also thanks to decentralized systems, Off-Grids, used for the electrification of rural areas, mining sites or businesses.It is difficult to measure the cumulative production capacity of these solutions.But, according to the 2019 report of the World Association for the Out of Network Solar Energy Industry (GOGLA), mini-grids and domestic solar systems provided electricity to 100 million people worldwide, includinga good part in sub -Saharan Africa.

The promises of wind energy

As for wind energy, another major source of renewable energy, it was exploited in Africa well before the development of solar energy.The continent is abundantly swept by winds that can be used to produce large -scale electricity.According to the International Finance Company (SFI), a subsidiary of the World Bank, the African continent has a technical potential for wind resources of more than 59,000 GW, that is enough to meet 250 times the energy demand from the continent, estimates the World Councilwind energy (GWEC).

In its report dating from 2020, the institution indicates that in 2020 around 821 MW new wind capacity was installed in Africa and the Middle East, bringing the region's total capacity to more than 7 GW.However, this installed capacity represents only 0.01 % of the wind potential of the African continent.For the time being, this energy is produced mainly thanks to terrestrial wind farms.South Africa, which today affirms a certain leadership in the field, has an installed wind capacity of 2,323 MW according to Power Africa, the program supported by the agency of the United States for international development (USAID)).For its part, Egypt continues the development of wind projects in the Gulf of Suez thanks to investments by independent electricity producers (IPP) such as AGIE, Siemens Gamesa or Lekela Power.

The Taiba N’Diaye wind farm in Senegal © Lekela

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The latter has equipped Senegal with the very first West African Wind turbine park.The installation located in the town of Taïba Ndiaye has a capacity of 158.7 MW.Like Senegal, wind farms are operational in Morocco, Kenya and Namibia.These countries will soon be joined by Ethiopia and Djibouti thanks in particular to their respective wind farms in Assela (100 MW) and Ghoubet (60 MW), currently built by Siemens Gamesa.

The development of hydroelectricity

In addition to wind energy, hydroelectricity strongly contributes to the lighting of Africa.The largest project in progress on the continent is in Ethiopia.This country of the Horn of Africa builds the great dam of the Ethiopian Renaissance (Gerd) on the Nile.The installation, whose second filling ended in July 2021 will soon have a hydroelectric power station which will inject 6,450 MW into the national electrical network of Ethiopia.More than 5,100 km from there, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the government is slow to launch the construction phase of the Inga III hydroelectric project of 11,050 MW on the Congo River.In East Africa, Stiegler’s Gorge's hydroelectric project is progressing and should eventually inject 2,100 MW into the national electricity network of Tanzania.

Among countries with high hydroelectric potential in Africa, of course appears the DRC, but also Cameroon, both located in Central Africa.The two countries located in the Congo Basin alone would have 60 % of the continent's hydroelectric potential, which however remains very much unexploited to date.

Africa currently displays an installed hydroelectric power of 38,174 MW according to the International Association of Hydroelectricity (IHA).However, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB), only 5 % of Africa's hydroelectric potential is used so far.

Just in West Africa, the hydroelectric potential is around 25,000 MW, mainly in the countries bordering the Gulf of Guinea, notably Nigeria (37 %), Guinea (26 %), Ghana (11 %), Côte d'Ivoire (11 %) and Sierra Leone (5 %), according to the book The return of major hydraulic investments in West Africa: perspectives and issues, published by CIRAD (French center ofinternational cooperation in agronomic research for development).

Renewable energy sources still under-exploited

Among the sources of renewable energy still very little exploited in Africa is geothermal energy.Producing geothermal energy consists in exploiting the natural heat of the basement to produce electricity thanks to steam turbines.Operational or construction geothermal power plants on the continent are concentrated in East Africa, mainly in the Rift Valley.Kenya is by far the first producer of geothermal energy on the African continent, with an installed electrical capacity of 713 Mwe, on a potential of 7,000 Mwe estimated by the BAD.Near Kenya, several countries in East Africa, notably Ethiopia, Zambia, Uganda and Tanzania are also trying to exploit their geothermal potential, without palpable result for the moment.

Regarding biomass, electricity is produced by recovering the heat released by the incineration of wood, plants, agricultural waste or even organic household waste.According to the agroindustrial group SIFCA, biomass still remains the main source of energy in sub -Saharan Africa and represents 60 % to 80 % of energy balance sheets in most countries.This biomass from the wood used for the kitchen or the heating.For the moment, there are very few biomass power plants that produce large -scale electricity.But two promising projects are implemented in Côte d'Ivoire.In the future Divo biomass central, the heat resulting from the combustion of cocoa pods, will make it possible to produce between 60 and 70 MW of electricity.In Ayébo, electricity from France (EDF) and its partners Meridiam and Sifca will use the same technology for the valuation of oil palm waste in the BioVéa Biomass Central.

Biogas is also used from biomass.It is a very refined gas, resulting from the fermentation of organic matter in the absence of oxygen.This gas can be produced from agricultural and household waste, as well as animal labels.In Africa, biogas easily replaces wood and coal, still widely used for the kitchen.If biogas is still little produced, beautiful examples encourage optimism.On the shore of Lake Victoria, biodigesters contribute to the elimination of water hyacinth, an invasive plant which constitutes a real scourge for the preservation of the resources of the lake.

Programs that encourage the production of renewable energies

In addition to the megaprojets implemented in particular in Egypt with the Benban Solar Complex or even in Morocco with its Noor complex, important local programs and projects, under regional or regional are implemented in Africa.The electricity supply program by independent producers of renewable energy (REIPPP) is one of the major locally driven initiatives to accelerate clean energy production.The program implemented by the South African government aims to attract PPI investments.

Thus, thanks to public-private partnerships (PPP), many renewable energy power plants have emerged within the rainbow nation, making the country an undeniable model in terms of renewable energy production. D’ailleurs, la 5^e phase d’appels d’offres du REIPPP, dont les résultats sont toujours attendus, a enregistré 102 propositions pour un objectif de 2 600 MW d’énergies propres.

The contribution of development banks

PPIs are also at the center of the Scaling Solar program.This SFI initiative aims to encourage private companies to invest in solar to provide energy to the national electrical network of the programs, and ensure the rapid execution of projects thanks in particular to the implementation of public partnershipsPrivate (PPP).Among the main countries benefiting from the program is Senegal which has obtained two photovoltaic solar power plants for a total capacity of 60 MWC.Scaling Solar also benefits in Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Niger, Mali, Zambia, Ethiopia and Madagascar.

In addition to the SFI, the AfDB has also launched a program in favor of large -scale production of solar photovoltaic energy.The Desert To Power initiative aims to accelerate the deployment of solar energy in the Sahel, the strengthening of the transport network, the deployment of out -of -network solutions, the improvement of the business climate, with the revitalization of national companieselectricity.Through this program which covers 11 African countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan and Chad), the BAD wants to provide solar energy to 250 million people living inThe Sahelian band.The Pan -African Development Bank thus aims to make the Sahel the largest solar energy production area on the continent, with an installed capacity of 10,000 MWC.

Jean Marie Takouleu