Business
Africa Utility Week: Focus on great potential for wind & solar energy
Windfarm in the Ngong Hills, near Nairobi – Kenya
Governments and business are scrambling to find ways of making renewable energy, such as solar energy (photovoltaic and concentrated solar power), geothermal energy or wind power, a viable form of energy generation.
By investing in renewable energy programmes, governments and business are not only trying to stave off the devastating effects of climate change, but also to generate income.
In Africa, South Africa has invested in wind farms on the West Coast, and along the highways of the Western Cape, one sees a number of solar panels gracing the roofs of government subsidized houses in the overpopulated townships. The national energy supplier, Eskom, has also offered incentive and rebate schemes to households and businesses that invest in solar geysers. In 2011 the World Bank agreed to finance a US$250 million wind and solar power plant.
Elsewhere in Africa, a number of initiatives have already shown great promise. For example, in east Africa, Kenya is the leader in geothermal generation, with Kenya having built the first geothermal plant on the continent in Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley. The first commercial exploration of power started here early in the 1980s.
In North Africa; the government of Tunisia has invested heavily in solar energy technologies.
African challenges
“Africa is generally aware of the importance of renewable energy as a business case, but has not yet figured out the most viable investment strategy to employ,” says Dr Agostinho Zacarias, South African resident co-ordinatior for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He is a headline speaker at the African Utility Week conference and exhibition which will be held in Johannesburg from 21-24 May.
“There is disillusionment about entry points and required capital outlay, with most governments either under- or over-estimating the related costs. The most prominent constraint is meeting the costs for project start-ups such as feasibility studies, environmental impact assessments and pilot project implementation, most of which should be met by public funding and/or guarantee.”
