Regional integration key to deploying large-scale renewables production

28th March 2013

By: Schalk Burger

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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The ability to import or export electricity, depending on the availability of a coun-try’s renewables generation capacity, was key to enabling the deployment of large-scale renewables electricity generation in Africa, said a panel of experts at the Africa Energy Indaba, in Sandton, last month.

An effective renewable-energy mix must use the energy sources available at different times and must be able to dispatch power across borders, said wind energy company Red Cap Investments MD Mark Tanton.

“If we have an interconnected grid in Africa, it creates possibilities for wind and solar generation outside countries’ borders and we can then import power from where it is being produced by different renewable-energy gener-ation sources.”

Renewable-energy sources were important for Africa’s development and it is critical that the continent harnesses what it can from its environment, said law firm Werksmans director Happy Masondo.

South Africa was running out of generation capacity and the importance of renewable-energy sources had been acknowledged in its policies, but implementation of alternative energy sources was critical for development in South Africa, she said.

After ten years of uncertainty about indepen- dent power production, South Africa was currently an example of policy certainty that led to investment in and competition for renewable-energy projects, the lesson being that more policy certainty across the region would release investors from policy fears, said clean energy company Cennergi CEO Thomas Garner.

“However, a barrier to entry in South Africa is access to the electricity transmission and distribution grids. “This is a significant issue that is being resolved, but there is still a lot of bureaucracy involved in the processes and long time- lines. “We can build a renewable-energy site within six to nine months, but a grid connection for the same facility can take between 24 and 35 months to achieve, which is a significant challenge for energy companies,” he noted.

Renewable-energy companies and investors required certainty about grid access across the continent and a lack of investment in the grid across the Southern African Development Community region was a severe challenge for all independent power producers, he highlighted.

“The right public–private partnership could lead to certainty on grid access across the region. There are energy sources available in different countries, but a lack of access to the grid prevents trade in energy and we need more investment in the grid,” said Garner.

Policy certainty was crucial for these early stages of renewable-energy development because many of the projects were using project finance and were not yet generating revenues; they also had to contend with several other considerations, including supply and demand concerns and the onerous demands from a project financing point of view, he stipulated.

Renewable energy was important for Africa’s development and renewable projects helped to uplift local communities, which made renew-able-energy projects and independent power producers important for Africa, not only for electricity but also for development, concluded Tanton.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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