[ 2013-05-26 ]

Wind power blows into Africa
CAPE TOWN (AFP) - Giant turbines churning in the
wind are a rare sight in Africa -- but that will
not be the case for long.

Until now the meagre amounts of investment in
African wind energy have predominantly come from
governments and foreign donors.

But this is changing fast, say experts.

Private investors smell profit in beefing-up the
continent's over-stretched power grids and swarms
of new wind turbines are soon expected to emerge.

If all plans on the table come to fruition,
capacity will increase tenfold.

"When you look at the on-going and planned
projects, you see actually over 50 percent of the
projects being sponsored by the private sector,"
said African Development Bank economist Emelly
Mutambatsere.

Today wind makes up one percent of electricity
production, or just 1.1 gigawatts.

But an additional 10.5 gigawatts is in the
pipeline.

According to an African Development Bank study of
76 wind projects, two thirds are pending.

Liberalisation of electricity markets has helped
prise open the sluice gates for investment.

"The state still plays a big role in a lot of the
countries," Mutambatsere told AFP. "But a number
of countries have liberalised to some extent."

North Africa -- including Egypt, Tunisia and
Morocco -- have led the way. But sub-Saharan
Africa is catching up.

This year saw the first large commercial wind farm
in the region come on line, a 52 megawatt project
in Ethiopia.

Further south, the continent's heaviest carbon
emitter South Africa is a striking example of the
sector's growth.

The coal-rich nation --gunning for an extra 18
gigawatts of capacity from renewables such as wind
-- has opened power production projects to private
bidders for the first time.

The first bidding round of 28 projects drew $5
billion in investments, according to the energy
ministry.

"There's a huge boom going on in South Africa in
wind and renewables," said South African Wind
Energy Association CEO Johan van den Berg.

"South Africa previously had eight operative wind
towers or turbines and there's about 250 under
construction at the moment."

Last year, investment in South African renewable
energy increased in excess of 20,000 percent, he
said.

Meanwhile in Kenya the $815 million, 300 megawatt
Lake Turkana Wind Power Project is hoping to break
ground in November.

With wind flow of 11.8 metres per second the
project is "a dream" according to chairman Carlo
van Wageningen.

According to Richard Doyle of renewable energy
consulting firm 3E, tough conditions in key green
markets like Europe have played a role in the
pivot to Africa.

So too, the healthy returns promised in developing
markets.

"There's been a veritable flood of companies out
of their home markets in Europe into developing
economies generally and Africa is one of those
focal areas."

However, he added that any "boom" tag had to be
qualified by recognising conditions elsewhere.

"If markets were less tight in Europe, would as
many developers be in Africa? Almost certainly
not," he said.

And the Global Wind Energy Council secretary
general Steve Sawyer says public financing will
always play a role in smoothing out erratic
investment flows.

However, he said, there was growing understanding
among governments that "in order to create a
sustainable energy system, a large degree of
private investment is required".

"That level of investment can only be achieved by
creating the kind of policy environment which
sufficiently reduces the risks to investors such
that they are willing to do project finance," he
added.

With just 0.1 percent of the 2011 world market in
Africa and the Middle East, the continent is still
playing catch up.

Large-upfront costs mean wind is a long way away
from overtaking dirtier but cheaper energy sources
like coal and gas.

By 2030, wind is only expected to account for two
percent of Africa's power mix, according to the
International Energy Agency.

Coal is set to remain king at 37 percent, followed
by gas at 32 percent.

"It won't become a dominant power source but it
will become an important contributor to the energy
mix," said the bank's Mutambatsere.

Source - AFP

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