Growing solar in Africa

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This was a significant jump from the 786MW that was brought online in 2017 In 2016, South Africa had 1,329MW of installed solar power capacity and this capacity is expected to reach 8,400MW by 2030. Two new solar plants now feeding 132MW into South Africa's grid and two utility-scale solar plants in the Northern Cape, Aggeneys Solar and Konkoonsies II Solar, have commenced commercial operations, adding a collective 132MW to South Africa's generation capacity.

Investment

“Addressing Africa’s large and persistent power deficit is key to achieving economic and social targets. There is significant potential for solar power, both at the utility and off-grid scale, to assist in reducing this shortfall, says Liz Hart, managing director of the African Energy Indaba, which will take place virtually from 1-5 March 2021.

Governments increasingly see both forms of solar power as critical to their electrification objectives. In an endeavour to increase investment on the continent’s solar front, African ministers are encouraging international investors to participate in solar power purchase agreement (PPA) processes and empowering them to own and operate solar farms in their own capacity.

Tackling climate change

Many African nations have employed solar energy as a solution to tackling climate change, keeping abreast of their development and ensuring food security. Extensive research from some of the world’s most renowned energy experts has elucidated that no other energy source, including hydro and wind, can provide power and have an impact as sustainable, reliable, and efficient as solar.

However, successful implementation of solar is futile without regional cooperation to enable expediating the process of implementing solar under a single framework. As most municipalities operate completely independently from one another, this consequently implies that they are unable to foresee or understand the benefits or the process pertaining to such regional integration initiatives.