NOLUYOLO XORILE: Why Africa’s energy poverty could be its greatest strength

Though Africa has a wealth of fossil fuels, including many newly discovered oilfields, it is the continent’s renewable resources that are increasingly being seen to make it a global powerhouse.

Renewables could result in energy self-sufficiency for many African countries. They have the potential to result in Africa becoming a net exporter of green energy to the rest of the world, ending energy poverty on a continent where 600-million people live off the grid.

In SA a growing number of businesses are electing to avoid load-shedding issues, in which supply is interrupted to avoid excess load on the system, by going off-grid using renewable energy generated by independent power producers (IPPs), and by independently installing solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. SA’s flagship Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP) is working to put additional power into the country`s electricity system through private sector investment in sectors including wind, solar, biomass and small hydropower.

At SA’s first green hydrogen summit, in November 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa stressed that renewable energy projects present a unique opportunity for the country to drive industrialisation and attract foreign green energy investment.

Renewables are attractive to foreign investors because European and Asian manufacturers are now under urgent pressure to reduce their carbon footprints. They are actively looking for production sites that can be 100% powered by green energy, particularly for the manufacture of green steel and green fertiliser. Indeed, the renewable resources that are abundant across the African continent could encourage overseas companies to build industrial plants and renewable energy infrastructure at the same time.

In SA the Green Hydrogen National Plan is being fast-tracked by the government and it has been announced that nine new — mostly hydrogen production-centred — projects will be accelerated. These include the Prieska Power Reserve Project, which will produce green hydrogen and ammonia using a combination of wind and solar power. 

These types of large-scale mixed renewables projects are starting to proliferate across the continent. For example, there is Aman, the huge new green hydrogen plant under development in Mauritania, which will use a mix of solar and wind power from the desert to produce green hydrogen fuel and green nitrogen. 

The production of green nitrogen is likely to prove particularly important in enabling some African nations to move away from dependency on development assistance in the agriculture sector, where locally produced nitrogen fertiliser could prove more cost-effective by reducing the need for imports.

Indeed, every African nation has access to major sources of renewable energy, though some lack the infrastructure to exploit it. There have been problems with an over-reliance on hydropower in the past, and in the years to come as water resources become more threatened, the viability of hydro is likely to decrease. We are already seeing severe downturns in energy generation from hydro due to a lack of water. 

In future, particularly in East Africa where there has been an over-dependence on the Nile, renewables will need to come from a more diverse range of natural resources. For example, Tanzania possesses an abundance of renewable energy sources but connection to the grid is at low levels because generating capacity is insufficient, resulting in energy poverty. The country used to depend on hydropower for 90% of its energy, but when climate change hit that dependence caused a power crisis. 

The country is now moving towards diversification of power through solar, geothermal and wave power, in which the country has rich potential resources. So far, the Tanzanian government has not been involved in the development of renewable energy projects, whereas the private sector has been participating directly in projects, both large and small scale. The private sector has created a mini grid to supplement the national grid in rural areas, for example by extending the grid to Tanzania’s almost 200 islands in the Indian Ocean, Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika, using primarily solar power.

As Africa continues to develop economically it can leapfrog traditional fossil fuel-based energy systems and embrace renewable energy. By doing so the continent can drive industrialisation, infrastructure development and create the jobs of the future.

With the right regulatory framework and incentives set by governments — as Namibia has done — and demand driven by communities and businesses, the market signals will be to secure global financing for an African renewables sector that could be world leading.

• Xorile is an environmental consultant at RSK (RGM).