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Governments and their agency planners are always looking to spend wisely in order to not only provide energy to its citizens but also achieve clean energy goals. However, transitioning to clean energies is not always easy considering they always have citizens whose standard of living is often tied to cheap, yet environmentally harmful fossil fuels. In addition, their utilities depend on existing grids based on fossil fuel infrastructure.
However big changes are underway. Innovation is helping utilities to digitise, decarbonise, and decentralise their modern grids to address expanding energy needs. All these at affordable costs.
Between 2006 and 2014, the average market price of solar modules, for example, declined from $4/Watt peak to $0,50/Watt peak. It has been calculated that prices have decreased by approximately 24% each time the installed capacity has doubled. Utilities are taking these cost reductions and technology innovations to improve grid efficiency, to enable demand response mechanisms that allow adjustment of energy consumption when required, and for designing bi-directional power streams that recognise the new requirements of renewables on the grid “edge”.
Energy-consuming citizens now accept some degree of flexibility in their consumption patterns in order to assure a future clean planet for the generations that will follow. Utilities are bridging the gap between information systems and operational systems to leverage data for improved customer service. New technologies, including weather forecasting software, remote management, and energy storage are redefining the reliability of renewable energy sources. A grid operator can now evaluate the performance of an individual wind turbine and make adjustments from his control centre thousands of kilometres away.
The transition to clean energy is a step-by step-process, but three key elements are in place that ease the transition:
The transformation of the energy value chain is picking up global momentum, and innovation at every level is driving it. African governments must not fall behind in this revolution.