Self-generation emerging as a big theme across Africa

3rd August 2018

By: Anine Kilian

Contributing Editor Online

     

Font size: - +

Africa’s energy industry is not declining, but it is being disrupted, says GE gas power systems anglophone Africa sales MD Nosizwe Dlengezele.

Addressing a recent media briefing in Johannesburg, she noted that, ultimately, people who relied on the energy market would find ways to acquire the service without having to be dependent on larger models that created electricity provisions.

“We are seeing self-generation as a big theme, mainly in the renewables space. “Smaller rural communities, for example, are finding ways to access electricity to meet their most basic electricity needs,” she said.

She highlighted that an example was microgrids, with more communities capacitating themselves from a point of view of generation and transmission, without being dependent on larger infrastructure projects.

Regarding energy storage, she said that the “technological will” was there; however, commercial reality remained a challenge.

“We need to ensure that the inclusion of energy storage technologies becomes bankable and commercial,” she noted, adding that battery storage prices were soaring.

Dlengezele stated that technical and financial losses were major challenges in the electricity space, pointing out that more than half of generated electricity was lost through inefficient transmission and distribution systems and networks, electricity theft, and people not paying for electricity.

“What makes infrastructure projects bankable is the ability to collect [revenue].”

Financing was another major challenge in the industry, she said, because the cost of funding electricity projects was high.

“Looking at end-consumers, it is not guaranteed that people are able to afford the [electricity] tariffs, even if it is being generated by a microgrid,” she said.

She added that government frameworks and policies also made it challenging to enable ease of starting electricity projects and to attract investment.

“We operate within structures that need to ensure that people’s investments are protected,” she said.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION