Fossil fuels to remain dominant in Africa’s energy mix

Fossil fuels will continue to dominate Africa’s energy mix in the next three to five decades, but their depletion should be envisaged in the second half of the century, World Energy Council regional manager for Africa Latsoucabé Fall said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the fifteenth yearly Power and Electricity World Africa Conference and Exhibition, he commended South Africa’s focus on renewable energy.

Fall said coal, oil and gas resources, although abundant in Africa, were unevenly distributed and would last for a limited period of time. While the continent is estimated to host about 5.7% of the world’s coal reserves, 90% of its coal reserves are concentrated in Southern Africa.

“Combustion of these resources produce more carbon dioxide than any other human activity. It is therefore essential to encourage efficient use and to develop and accelerate cleaner fossil fuel technologies to reduce the impact of human-induced emissions on the quality of human life and the natural environment,” Fall stated.

He said a shift to renewable energy, as a contributing energy resource to the African power mix, was important.

“Promoting the use of solar and wind energy in Africa, as the technologies mature, will contribute to the African energy mix in a sustainable manner, provided that these projects are formulated in a bankable form and the social and environmental implications of larger projects are addressed.

“For that purpose, the market for the related technologies should be expanded to bring down costs. Proper policies and actions, including support for research and development and the use of portfolio standards and tariffs should be set in place to enhance the market penetration of these technologies,” Fall urged.

Further, he pointed out that Africa’s hydroelectricity production costs were competitive compared with those of thermal options and that developing the Democratic Republic of Congo's Grand Inga hydroelectric project would be a realistic solution to the challenge of energy supply in many African countries.

However, Kenya-based independent power producer Tsavo Power Company CEO Julius Riungu pointed out that current challenges associated with renewable energy resources included intermittency.

“There is no known large storage facility for these intermittent sources of energy. Until such time, they cannot be considered as base load suppliers,” he stated.

Despite safety concerns, Riungu said it was realistic to further develop nuclear energy for electricity production in Africa, as it would offer supply security and reduced emissions.