There is an increase in power generation contracts, infrastructure refurbishment, solar projects and other renewable-energy technologies from African power utilities and independent power producers (IPPs), says business media company Terrapinn project director Kim Frankental.

She says the biggest factor driving this adoption in Africa is the need to increase the use of available energy resources on the continent and enable the support of neighbouring countries during emergencies, highlighting that Africa’s electricity growth rate is 2.5% a year, with yearly consumption at 400 TWh.

These driving factors, together with the need for rural electrification and getting African countries onto the grid, are of utmost importance to “keep the lights on”, says Frankental.

“The increase in adoption of IPP renewable energy projects is going to have a massively positive impact not only on our environment but also in taking the pressure off the grid. Meeting a growing power demand would require a coordinated approach in planning and implementation of both generation and transmission projects. For example, the South African Power Pool has planned to commission about 19 000 MW of generation capacity by 2016. If commissioned, the reserve margin will improve drastically,” she notes.

Meanwhile, the key decision-makers of Africa’s power sector shared their knowledge about upcoming power projects and informed suppliers how to become involved in the procurement of these projects at the sixteenth yearly Power and Electricity World Africa 2013 event.

The conference ran from April 8 to 11 and the exhibition from April 9 to 10 at the Sandton Convention Centre, in Sandton, Johannesburg.

Frankental points out that the event, organised by Terrapinn, aimed to help attendees access new African energy projects, funding and profitable energy opportunities through its 144 seminar sessions and 250 exhibitions free of charge, as well as through conferences and more than 20 hours of networking opportunities.

The event, Africa’s largest yearly power and energy conference and exhibition, encourages organisations, investors and energy users to take advantage of the power and energy opportunities in Africa that are fast gathering momentum, explains Frankental.

Opportunities in the Gas Sector
She notes that, with the recent discovery of gas in areas such as Mozambique and Angola, it was interesting to hear from experts how these discoveries affected the African energy mix.

Engineering News reported in February that oil and gas major Shell upstream international director Andrew Brown pegged gas to play a major role in the future of global energy supply.

Speaking at a media briefing, in London, in December last year, he said the energy demands of growing populations and econo- mies needed to be met, while also meeting carbon dioxide management goals.

He noted that gas had the right environmental footprint and was cost effective and that there were significant conventional and unconventional gas resources worldwide.

Liquefied petroleum gas use is becoming increasingly popular, with developing countries like Indonesia, Turkey, Morocco and India having converted to using gas instead of paraffin as their main domestic thermal fuel source in recent years.

Meanwhile, Frankental also notes that Power and Electricity World Africa is a platform that encourages learning and innovation, adding that the event hosted more than 150 industry speakers and showcased the latest international power generation and energy efficiency trends and technological advancements.

State-owned power utility Eskom, which was a ‘diamond partner’ for the event, shared also its knowledge on energy efficiency with delegates.

Government’s 49M energy saving campaign was also an event partner and highlighted energy efficient practices that could be adopted by the organistions represented by the more than 4 500 visitors and delegates who attended the event.

The two-day senior-level conference started with a plenary session and was followed by five industry think-tanks, during which industry leaders from South Africa, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Kenya, Ghana and Zambia addressed attendees.

The opening day plenary session provided delegates with insight into the state of the African power industry, the status of existing and new projects, as well as future energy opportunities.

The projects and energy challenges of Africa were addressed on the second day, while the event also included an IPP and cogeneration conference day and a two-day conference focusing on power generation, clean technology, transmission and distribution, and gas.

The developing framework for virtual power stations to reduce costs when building a nuclear power station was also discussed.

South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe reaffirmed the country’s “right to research, develop and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes” at the Nuclear Africa 2013 conference, in Midrand, last month.

He said the country would continue to develop and promote nuclear energy and added that the construction of new nuclear power plants could benefit South African industry.

Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director-general Yukiya Amano told Engineering News in February other African countries were seriously considering the espousal of nuclear energy, and the IAEA was working with Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria in this regard.