The African continent is expected to embark on its largest ever wind energy deployment drive over the next 5 years. Latest market intelligence released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) forecasts that at least 9,4 GW of new wind energy capacity will be deployed on the continent by 2026.
The South African market, the continent’s leading wind energy market is expected to add 5,4 GW of new wind energy capacity by 2026, followed by Egypt which is forecasted to deploy 2,2 GW, and Morocco which is set to deploy an additional 1,8 GW.
In its Global Wind Report 2022, the global wind energy body notes that growth in the Africa region is likely to slow down in 2022 and 2023 mainly due to the delays of the first and second rounds of REIPPPP Bid Window 5 auction in South Africa.
GWEC however affirms that once projects awarded from South Africa’s REIPPPP Bid Window 5 come online, a new installation record is expected to be achieved in the Africa region in 2023, and the growth momentum is likely to be maintained during the rest of the forecast period.
GWEC attributes growth to more policy clarity
Growth of wind energy in the African market GWEC largely attributed it to more improvements in policy clarity by African governments and more political will to increase share of renewables in the energy mix.
GWEC acknowledged the recent reforms announced by the South African government, particularly the amendment of Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act which exempt developers from applying for any licensing with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) for embedded generation projects up to 100 MW as a booster for wind energy deployment.
The global body also mentioned the unbundling of Eskom by the end of 2022 as critical for providing an adequately resourced and independent transmission entity, as well as a more reliable offtaker to power generators.
Morocco’s wind power sector is on a growth trajectory with the country well on its way to reaching its national target of producing an additional 1 GW of wind energy by 2024. The country has vast wind energy resources with strong wind speed averaging 7.5-9.5 metres a second (m/s) in the south, and 9.5-11 m/s in the north.
The Egypt market is expected to experience rapid growth with GWEC putting it on its “markets to watch” list. The Egyptian government plans to have renewables constitute 42% of its power generation mix by 2035, of which 14% of that will be wind.
“Egypt boasts impressive onshore wind potential which can be exploited to support national renewable energy ambitions. Several locations in windier regions, in particular along the Gulf of Suez,” says GWEC.
Harnessing Africa’s wind power potential
Africa’s technical wind power potential is enough to power the continent’s entire energy demand 250 times over, but Africa is currently only tapping into 0.01% of its potential with over 7GW of total installed capacity. Wind energy deployment has often been held back as fossil fuel generation sources such as natural gas, coal, heavy fuel oil, and diesel remain a large part of the energy mix.
GWEC late last year launched Africa WindPower (AWP) – a platform for dialogue between Africa’s wind industry and government stakeholders, with the ultimate goal of scaling up and accelerating wind project development and deployment across the entire African continent.
“Africa has the opportunity to leapfrog traditional fossil-fuel based energy systems to achieve a robust renewable energy mix. Wind Power is a vital part of this clean energy transition allowing for decentralized, affordable and clean energy,” says Wangari Muchiri, Africa WindPower Director.
