At the SMM International PV Industry Summit 2023 – Main Forum, Chinnan Maclean Dikwal, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Energy Council, said that Africa is at the fastest and most profound moment of energy transition in the past 100 years. In Africa, this energy transition will be rapid, disruptive and have far-reaching implications for Africa. The reason for this is that Africa's energy system is slow to update and is more vulnerable to external influences, especially renewable energy systems, such as photovoltaics, wind energy, and new energy
So at the African Energy Council, the question that has been trying to answer in the past few years is, can Africa better solve the problem of energy shortage by taking the renewable energy path? Or should we continue to invest in large, centralized, conventional, energy power systems? Examples include gas turbine combined cycle power plants common in Nigeria, Angola, South Africa, and large coal plants like those found in South Africa and other parts of Africa. How to solve the energy shortage of Africa's 600 million people? Can the above solutions achieve sufficient energy? It's a question that the African Energy Council has been trying to answer. At present, the African Energy Council believes that for Africa, considering the development of photovoltaic, wind energy, and new energy is both logical and economical.
In centralized systems across Africa, many systems lose up to 30-40% in energy transmission and distribution. Because of this, these systems are very susceptible to power generation systems. Moreover, infrastructure has under-investment gaps, which also make it very vulnerable to influence. But more importantly, the cost of renewable resources (photovoltaics, wind, new energy, etc.) has fallen significantly over the past few years, presenting huge opportunities for Africa.
Considering the solar radiation situation in Africa, whether it is in the strip area of North Africa or near the equator, such as Senegal, Nigeria, Mauritania, the sunshine conditions in these areas, as well as photovoltaic investment costs and electricity costs, make Africa full of potential for photovoltaic development. For example, since 2010, the installed cost of photovoltaic capacity in Africa has fallen by 90%.
From 2010 to 2022, the installed cost of photovoltaics will decrease by about 20% per year. In predicting these curves and cost-effectiveness, the African Energy Council expects PV costs to fall by about 10%/year from 2023-2030. Costs will fall by another 70% by 2030, which is remarkable in a sense. The same is true for wind energy, where the total cost of wind energy has fallen by about 50% and cost-effectiveness by about 7%-8% per year since 2010, and it is expected that the cost of wind energy will fall by about 5% per year in the future. Lithium batteries have a huge competitive advantage for Africa, and their cost has also fallen sharply, from 2010 to the present, the cost of lithium batteries has fallen by about 95%; Over the past few years, costs have fallen by about 20% per year. But what is really important is that for Africa, the real breakthrough point is the integration of solar systems, wind energy systems and new energy, and the integration of technology will bring breakthroughs to Africa, which is also the African Energy Council's recommendation to African governments.
The convergence of technologies has led much of Africa to focus on solving energy problems, with large, centralized systems often failing, and just this week, Nigeria experienced massive blackouts that will generate zero total electricity. So far in 2022, Nigeria alone has experienced four power outages and four power outages. Therefore, the development of photovoltaics is conducive to solving the problem of energy shortage in Africa. Combining renewable resources with other energy sources, such as hydrogen, is rapidly heating up in Africa and in countries around the world. Namibia in Africa is leading the development of hydrogen energy, and now has about 7 or 8 different projects in Mauritania and other regions. A large number of green hydrogen energy projects, combined with photovoltaic and electrolytic plants, produce hydrogen and ammonia, which are sold domestically and exported to Europe, which brings great opportunities for Africa's development.
【SMM PV Conference】 https://news.smm.cn/news/102386209 - Shanghai Nonferrous Metal Network] African Energy Agency: Africa's fastest moment of energy transition in 100 years The wind, solar hydrogen market is huge!