Africa | Renewbl.com

Category: Africa

Kenya's renewable energy plan will significantly rely on geothermal power

July 8th, 2009 | Posted in Geothermal

An existing geothermal power plant in Kenya. (Image credit: afrepren.org)

The country's efforts to boost power generation by 2 GW, in a 20-year plan, has gradually been transformed into a "turbo-charged" three-year program.

Although the country largely depended on hydropower so far (75%), this energy resource has become less stable in the past years due to erratic rain seasons. The only remaining untapped renewable energy source in the country is geothermal energy.

The Kenyan government is planning to increase power generation by 2000 MW by 2012 by exploiting geothermal energy, wind energy, biofuel, solid waste and coal-driven power plants. So far, six geothermal sites have been identified as project locations in Olkaria and Menengai areas, with a total capacity of about 490 MW. The only real obstacle to exploiting these sites is project financing.

The government is going to try and speed up the process of geothermal plant construction by coming up with all the possible projects in advance, thus eliminating the time needed to conduct all the feasibility studies and assessments. Once prepared, the projects will be announced and foreign investors will be invited to finance the projects.

Egypt developing wind energy sector with the help of other governments

July 2nd, 2009 | Posted in Wind

Egypt has significant wind energy potential, but was unable to develop wind farms on its own due to a lack of manufacturing capacity and insufficient financing capability. Nevertheless, the most recent addition to the Zafarana wind farm is a 240 MW phase that has just been completed with the help of Danish and Japanese government aid agencies. With this latest installation, the total installed capacity at the Zafarana wind farm is now 545 MW. The project, which represents an important step in deployment of large scale wind power in Egypt, has contributed greatly by providing operatinal experience in power plant operation, as well as bringing local assembly of the wind turbines.

The Zafarana wind farm. (Image credit: windpowerworks.net)

The Zafarana wind farm project has been started back in 2001, and over the years several phases have been built with the help of Danish, German, Spanish and Japanese government agencies.

Based on the experience accumulated during the development of the Zafarana wind energy project, the Egyptian government is now opening a larger area (about 656 km2) at El-Zayt, south of Zafarana. The new area has about 3 GW of wind power potential. This project will involve private sector investment for the first time. Just to illustrate the possibilities, wind speeds in the area are known to reach 11 m/s which represents a good base for wind energy exploitation.

Egypt is planning to achieve 20% of renewable power generation by 2020, and more than half of that from wind power.

A more concrete approach to a Europe powered by solar energy from Africa

June 18th, 2009 | Posted in

There has been talk about harnessing solar energy from the northern regions of Africa, which has been claimed to be enough to power all of Europe in the years to come.

Industrial leaders in Europe and the Mediterranean are going to join to form the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII), whose mission is going to be to transform European energy supplies. The concept behind the idea is that the Earth's deserts receive enough energy to power manking for a year in only six hours. Desertec is going to try to join countries, regions, big companies and smaller industries to enter into a joint effort to harvest Sun's energy.

Desertec Foundation, a charitable initiative of the Club of Rome composed of dedicated citizens, will provide a suitable platform for this cooperation. The founding meeting of the Foundation will take place on July 13, this year, by invitation of Münchener Rück and the Desertec Foundation.

North African desert regions are going to be the key suppliers of solar energy, and feed the "super grid" with electricity. The red squares represent the area of the desert needed for generating power to satisfy the need of the corresponding region. (Image credit: Desertec.org)

Future projects in North Africa will consist of CSP (concentrated solar power) projects as they are the most optimal technology to use, cheaper than photovoltaics, and capable of delivering large scale power supply even at night, with the help of energy storage, using salts, water or oil. This technology has been proven to be a viable solution for large scale solar power generation, and is expected to become a competitive source of energy in the near future.

The Desertec Concept was developed by the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) and a worldwide network of scientist, politicians, and entrepreneurs associated with the Club of Rome.

Ethiopia planning a 246 MW hydropower project

May 22nd, 2009 | Posted in Hydro

The project is in the feasibility study phase – the feasibility study has just been completed, and the proposed hydropower project on the Genale River (Liben Zone, Somali state), is looking good so far.

The 246 MW power plant will help the country combat seasonal power shortages. All excess power generated by the new power plant will be available for export to other countries. Additionally, the project will be helpful to pastoralists, as it will allow irrigation and flood control, usually happening in the low areas of the country, right after the rainy season in the highlands.

The study, which was carried out by a foreigh company (not known at this time), covered all areas of the project, from construction to design and expenditure, but also ways for the country to export power to other areas.

Mozambique planning a USD 2 billion hydropower plant for 2011

May 21st, 2009 | Posted in Hydro

Location of the future Mphanda Nkuwa dam. (Image credit: internationalrivers.org)

It is called Mphanda Nkuwa hydro-electric dam, and it will be a hydropower project representing a USD 2 billion investment. Once completed, the project is expected to produce about 1350 MW of power. The generated electrical energy will be used to supply the demand in Mozambique, but also for exporting to other countries in the Southern African Development Community.

Export-Import Bank of China is financing the project, with a total USD 2.3 billion loan, part of which will be used for developing transmission lines from the power plant to the capital Maputo. The new dam is planned to be built some 60 km downstream from the Cahora Bassa Dam. Hopes are the new power plant will attract energy hungry industries to the country.

Namibia and Angola planning to build a hydropower plant on the Kunene River

April 25th, 2009 | Posted in Hydro

Epupa Falls on the Kunene River. (Image credit: 4eva africa on Flickr)

Namibia and Angola (south west Africa) are planning to build a hydropower plant on the Kunene River. The US$ 7 billion heavy project is to be developed jointly between the two countries, on the river which is also their natural common border. The new hydropower plant will be able to generate about 400 MW of clean electricity. A 50/50 investment sharing model between the two countries is at the basis of the project, with finances coming from the two governments, development agencies and banks in South Africa. Namibia has been put in a vulnerable position in the past years, having had to import electricity from South Africa's state utility Eskom.

Construction on the project is expected to being in early 2010, executed by Brazilian companies. The construction will take 5-8 years, but its projected 2010 start largely depends on the completion of feasibility studies.

Zambia getting hydropower project in 12 months

April 6th, 2009 | Posted in Hydro

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), said 15 companies have expressed interest in developing the Kafue Gorge Lower (KGL as further reference) hydropower project in Zambia. The winning bidder for project development will be chosen within the next twelve months.

The KGL power plants should produce 750 MW of power once completed, and it will cost between US$1.1-1.5 billion. Construction is supposed to start in 2011 and the completion of the project is planned in 2016. A public-private partnership model will be used to provide the finance backbone of the project. Feasability studies, costing about US$6 million, are going to be concluded soon. The KGL power plant will be located about 65 km upstream from the confluence of the Kafue and Zambezi Rivers, and in the vicinity of the 900 MW Kafue Gorge Upper hydropower plant. The KGL has about 200 m head at its disposal, as 400 odf the 600 m head is already used by the KGU power plant.

Tailrace channel on river damn on Zambezi (Image credit: kafuegorgelowerppp.org)

The project should be able to provide enough power to reduce power shortages in country. The bidding companies' names have not been disclosed at this time.