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Renewables are central to meeting electricity demand and trade expansion in Central Africa Despite pockets of progress in recent decades for certain Central African Power Pool (CAPP) countries, Central Africa continues to be a region with one of the lowest levels of electricity access in the world. This is according to the Planning and Prospects for Renewable Energy: Central Africa report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The latest report, released on Friday, forms part of the IRENA series, Planning and Prospects for Renewable Energy, that focuses on renewable electricity generation in African power pools. It builds on the work of the IRENA Regional Modelling Analysis & Planning Support Programme for Central Africa, which was implemented in partnership with the Central African Power Pool (CAPP) in 2020–2023. The report indicates that in 2023, four CAPP countries had less than 20% power access, and seven of the region’s 11 countries had access levels below 50%. Except for Gabon, the entire region’s countries were below the global average. “As a result, there is enormous scope for electricity demand growth. While reference projections largely track historical trends, these would still indicate a doubling of regional electricity demand by 2040. “A more ambitious level of development, such as that necessary to meet the aspirations of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063, would indicate a nearly 350% increase in regional electricity demand by 2040. In such a scenario, peak load is projected to exceed existing and committed capacity by about 10 gigawatts (GW)—a nearly 50% gap—by 2040,” the report read. Hydropower is the largest renewable source of energy in Central Africa The report shows that at the start of 2023, installed power generation capacity in the CAPP region was just more than 11GW, of which hydropower made up roughly 75%. “Hydropower continues to be the main category of new capacity being planned in the region, making up over 85% of committed and candidate projects, including the major Grand Inga hydropower project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). “With over 20GW of hydropower potential at the Grand Inga site reflected in the modelling horizon—nearly two times more than the total current installed capacity in all of Central Africa—this project’s potential development is emblematic of the region’s ambitions to become an electricity exporter to the continent. It is also indicative of the region’s rich renewable resources.” The report states that renewables are central to meeting demand and trade expansion in Central Africa. “In every scenario, out to the modelling horizon of 2040, hydropower remains the largest renewable energy source in the region, supplying nearly 70% of its electricity.” It also indicates a large, untapped potential for cross-border electricity trade inside and outside the CAPP region. “More cross-border infrastructure would allow lower-cost renewable resources to be used more extensively, displacing more costly fossil fuel use. “Consistently, exports from the CAPP to other regions also lower costs and emissions for Africa as a whole, particularly in Western and Southern Africa.” |
