According to the International Energy Agency, sub-Saharan Africa will
require more than $300 billion in investment to achieve universal
electricity access by 2030. Committing more than $7 billion
in U.S. government support and attracting nearly three-times that in
private sector funding, Power Africa, which launched in October 2013,
marks a milestone for President Obama with regard to action on climate
change and clean energy, not to mention foreign relations and
international development.
The initiative gives the U.S. a leadership
role in addressing a range of critical regional and global issues –
eradicating poverty, improving health and gender equality, opening up
economic opportunity and conserving ecosystems and natural resources as
well as promoting clean, renewable energy. In this regard the program
dovetails nicely with the U.N.'s expiring Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and its new strategic Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as
well as Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Sustainable Energy for All
initiative.
After just one year, committed Power Africa projects were predicted
to provide enough electricity to power more than 5 million African
homes, businesses, schools, and clinics – one-quarter of the program's
goal. Momentum continues to rise. Last August President Obama announced
tripled the Power Africa goal to installing an aggregate 30,000 MW of
new sustainable generation capacity and expanding access to electricity
to at least 60 million households and businesses across all 28
sub-Saharan African nations. In addition, he pledged the U.S. would
raise monetary support for Power Africa to $300 million per year.
Leading The Charge Towards Sustainable Energy Access
USAID
is the lead agency responsible for coordinating Power Africa projects
and activities, which span 12 U.S. government agencies, those of
participating African governments, that of the Swedish government and
100+ private sector program partners, according to Audi Raval, USAID
senior communications adviser for Power Africa. (Image credit: ENCA)
The Obama administration is “trying to implement a new model of
development” in emerging-market countries, he explained, one focused on
private-sector participation and capacity building. “We're trying to
break down barriers (between and within public and private sector
partners in multiateral development programs) by sharing resources and
filling in gaps in capacity – legal, financial, technological,
operational – so as to significantly improve overall likelihood of
success,” he said.
Raval cited the Ethiopia Corbetti Geothermal power project, which
could produce as much as 1,000 MW of baseload electrical power, as one
example of the kinds of large, utility-scale renewable energy projects Power Africa is facilitating. A partnership between the government of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation and Reykjavik Geothermal, Corbetti Geothermal is “the first fully privatized project of its kind in Ethiopia,” he pointed out.
In renewing the U.S. commitment and expanding Power Africa President
Obama also announced $6 billion in new private-sector commitments. In
addition to other Power Africa initiatives, these facilitated the launch
of the $2 million Beyond the Grid sub-program, the overarching
goal of which is to foster “private investment in off-grid and
small-scale energy solutions that seek to expand access to remote areas
across sub-Saharan Africa.” Forty private-sector companies are
participating in Beyond the Grid including Silicon Valley high-tech
leaders such as Vinod Khosla.
Power Africa's Off-Grid Energy Challenge
The U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF), with additional
capital from GE Africa and USAID, funded 28 projects in the first two
Off-Grid Energy Challenge funding rounds and is in the process of
finalizing a third round, according to Tom Coogan, regional program
director responsible for Power Africa. “We want to do a number of
things: fund innovative solutions, demonstrate successful business
models, and showcase technologies that can be scalable, expanded and
replicated,” Coogan said. (Image credit: BBOXX)
Pay-as-you-go solar, microgrid access and smart metering figured
prominently in the $100,000 grants USADF has provided thus far to
African-owned and operated businesses, Coogan said. And USADF is looking
at doing more, he added.
Solar PV
makes up about two-thirds of the small-scale, distributed renewable
energy projects USADF has funded. Most of these also include battery
storage, Coogan noted. In addition, U.S. venture capital groups provided
some $38 million in funding for solar companies focused on distributed
PV products in Africa and other emerging markets in 2015's first
quarter, according to Mercom Capital’s latest quarterly solar finance and M&A report.
Deals in the report include:
- Fenix International, a manufacturer of mobile payment-enabled solar charging systems to off-grid African communities, which raised $12.6 million from GDF Suez, Schneider Electric, Orange France Telecom, cleantech entrepreneurs Tom Dinwoodie and Warner Philips, and other investors.
- M-KOPA Solar, an asset financing company that sells solar home systems to off-grid households on a mobile money payment plan in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, which raised $12.45 million from LGT Venture Philanthropy, Lundin Foundation, Treehouse Investments and Blue Haven Initiative.
- Greenlight Planet, a company that distributes solar energy products for off-grid homes in India and Africa, which raised $10 million from Fidelity Growth Partners India, Deutsche Bank and Global Partnerships.
- BBOXX, a company that designs, manufactures, distributes and finances plug & play solar systems across Africa and the developing world, which raised $3 million from Bamboo Finance and DOEN Foundation.
Africa’s Off-Grid Market Potential Powered By Energy Storage
Energy storage technology plays a key role in the massive off-grid
market opportunity in sub-Saharan Africa. Although not a Power Africa
partner, Imergy Power Systems'
vanadium flow batteries are gaining traction across sectors in South
Africa and Power Africa member countries, according to regional director
for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Tom Tipple.
Having moved successfully through trial and proof-of-concept phases,
“we've been inundated with real inquiries over the last three months,”
Tipple said. The problems South Africa state utility Eskom is having
meeting electricity demand in South Africa exist to an even greater
degree in countries across the sub-Saharan region. “We're seeing real
interest across all vertical market sectors, from residential on through
to telecoms, mining companies and utilities,” he said.
Intelligent energy storage and distribution platforms can be used to
efficiently and cost-effectively meet three or four different needs,
Tipple pointed out. Take all of them into consideration and “you're
seeing ROIs (returns on investment) within five years,” he explained.
Factor in lost production at mines in the region and energy storage ROIs
in the sector can come in at under three years, he added.
All told, rapidly falling costs, technological advances, innovations
in and greater access to financial resources and energy policy reforms
are fueling strong interest in intelligent energy storage and renewable
energy microgrids throughout sub-Saharan Africa. That testifies to the
increasing success the Power Africa initiative is having in promoting
clean, sustainable energy access across a region in desperate need of
it.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2015/05/renewable-energy-is-beginning-to-power-africa.html