Four technologies that could reshape Africa's energy future
Solar is driving Africa's energy revolution, but the continent needs to find other sources of power supply. Ben Payton looks at four options.
Several cutting-edge technologies hold the potential to revolutionize Africa's energy landscape, offering solutions to the continent's persistent electricity access deficit and unreliable power systems. Solar power, currently leading the charge, is projected to witness the installation of 100,000 panels daily across the continent. Complementary battery storage has experienced a significant cost reduction over the past two years, further bolstering solar technology's role in Africa's energy future.
In addition to solar, Africa is investing heavily in conventional energy sources such as gas-fired power stations, large-scale hydroelectric dams, and wind farms. However, no single technology can cater to the diverse energy needs of the continent. The vast potential of solar energy across Africa, coupled with the need for niche power generation and storage solutions, has spurred research and development efforts in various technological areas.
One such area is waste-to-energy, which provides an opportunity to develop a circular economy in Africa. Conventional waste-to-energy facilities, similar to thermal power stations, burn municipal waste to generate power. Several waste-to-energy projects are underway across the continent, including a 30 MW facility in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
This model has the potential to be expanded across African cities, creating a virtuous circle of economic development and improving the productivity and income of local plantations and farmers. However, conventional waste-to-energy projects face criticism due to pollutants released during the burning process and the predominance of organic waste in African cities.
Another promising technology is the generation of power from biomass, such as crop residues, which can offer a win-win outcome by providing smallholder farmers with a source of revenue from waste products while also creating a new source of baseload power. The Biovea Energie facility in Côte d'Ivoire, funded by a consortium including French utility EDF and infrastructure investment firm Meridiam, is a prime example, using waste from palm oil production to generate electricity for the local grid.
Anaerobic digesters are another option for harnessing power from biomass, using feedstock ranging from crop residues to cattle manure and even human faeces. These systems convert waste products into biogas, which can be used for cooking fuel, heating, or power generation, with the added benefit of producing excellent organic fertilizers.
Kenya has made significant strides in developing geothermal power, currently the only African country with geothermal power as a priority. The country boasts the world's sixth-largest geothermal power production capacity, accounting for nearly half of its electricity supply. This is primarily due to Kenya's geographical location, situated within the East African Rift Valley, where the African plate splits into the Somali plate and the Nubian plate, allowing for easy access to hot rock and relatively shallow drilling depths compared to other African countries.
Advances in technology, such as enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), could potentially make geothermal power generation feasible in a broader range of African countries, including parts of West and Central Africa that are far from major geothermal sources.
Written by urgent.news from Africa Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
