HYDROPOWER: AFRICA’S BIG GAMECHANGER

Projects of All Sizes in the Works

BY LIESL VENTER

ver 640 million Africans

The African Development Bank estimates that per capita consumption of energy in sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) is 180 kWh, compared to 13,000 kWh per capita in the U.S. and 6,500 kWh in Europe.

Bringing universal access to affordable electricity by 2030 on the continent would require installing connections to 90 million people a year, triple the rate of recent years, notwithstanding that energy demand in industry, freight and agriculture are growing rapidly. As is the population. It is one of the world’s fastest-growing populations – one in three people born are African.

According to the International Energy Agency, or IEA, to achieve its energy and climate goals, Africa needs at least US$190 billion of investment a year between 2026 to 2030. Twothirds of this must go to clean energy.

The picture looks overwhelming. Especially if one considers the unfolding crisis in South Africa, home to the continent’s most developed electricity network. There, rolling blackouts have become a norm. To solve the problem of its flailing network, the country’s power utility has opted for a model of power-sharing, implementing rotational power outages several times per day for up to four hours per session. The reality in South Africa –and Africa – is simply this: there is not enough electricity.

IEA executive director Fatih Birol, however, maintains that amid the tumult of today’s continental energy crisis there is opportunity. Breaking down the enormous figures involved he uses a stark example: access to energy for all Africans calls for an investment of only US$25 billion per year – a sum equivalent to the cost of building just one liquefied natural gas terminal.

He notes that clean energy will be the key to electrifying Africa. “The continent has the potential to leapfrog towards renewable energy. It holds one of the world’s best wind, solar and hydropower untapped resource potential.”

While the continent undoubtedly faces enormous challenges to build the infrastructure required to meet its needs, renewable solutions kill two birds with one stone – delivering much-needed energy and addressing climate change and environmental goals.

Trevor Criswell, IEA renewable energy market analyst, believes the hydrogen sector, in particular, holds big potential for Africa. “Given the weak grid infrastructure in many countries in Africa and the urgent need to expand large-scale power capacity, hydropower can meet multiple needs of the continent. First, hydropower offers an affordable solution to providing electricity access to those who don’t have it. Depending on the country, hydropower can provide comparable, if not lower, cost of electricity compared to fossil fuels,” he said. “Second, large hydropower dams can provide additional benefits beyond electricity in Africa such as agricultural irrigation, drinking water supply, transport and navigation, flood control and strategic water storage. Third, hydropower has other services such as power system flexibility and – it can ramp up and down quickly and start quickly. This helps prevent load-shedding, black-outs, and helps maintain a reliable system which is needed for industries to grow.”

The Argument For Hydropower

International Hydropower Association (IHA) Vice President Anton-Louis Olivier told Breakbulk what makes hydropower even more viable is that it is already well-established on the continent. “In Sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa, there is already around 50 to 60 GW of installed capacity of which more than half of that is hydropower.”

Statistically, Africa shares a similar picture to the rest of the world: hydropower accounts for around 17 percent of power generation. By the end of 2021, there was a total of 38 GW of installed capacity in Africa but this figure has increased thanks to several projects having been commissioned in recent months, most notably Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance project that began electricity production in February this year, commissioning two units with an installed capacity of 375 MW each. Once completed, it will be Africa’s largest hydropower plant at 5.3 GW.

Also, in Nigeria, the first 175 MW were commissioned at the 700 MW Zungeru Hydropower Station.

IHA Head of Research, Alex Campbell, said the good news, however, lies in the huge untapped capacity. “It is the continent with the least exploited resource with only around 10 percent of the economically and environmentally viable capacity being used at the moment. The two main rivers, the Congo flowing through the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the Nile through Ethiopia, hold great potential for the development of hydroelectric power.”

Dan Klinck, CEO of East African Power, an integrated renewable energy development and engineering company, estimates that hydropower will account for at least 30 percent to 35 percent of new generation installations on the continent for the next twenty to thirty years. “Hydropower might not see the same headline coverage as solar and wind in Africa, but it is an extremely popular solution for many governments. There are multiple projects taking place across Africa as we speak, and the pipeline is even longer.”

What makes it even more beneficial is that the projects are spread across the spectrum from very large to tiny delivering only one-digit MW. “The opportunity is massive because we are not talking about ten or 20 or even 50 large hydro plants that need developers, investors and project experts but thousands of small hydropower projects that are as attractive to the market.”

More so, new hydropower would not only bring clean, reliable renewable energy, but it would also stabilize the grid in many regions, in turn facilitating the building of new solar and wind projects.

“From a logistics point of view, the continent is well-placed to deliver on hydropower projects – those currently under construction and the massive pipeline. Logistics companies have built up the knowledge and expertise to move this type of cargo efficiently.”