The photo is sourced from power-grid.com
Thermal power plants: commissioning geography
The dominance of gas-fired TPPs in the new capacity mix is primarily due to the efforts made by hydrocarbon-rich North African countries – Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia where high availability of fossil fuel was the key factor in gas-fired generation development. The increase in gas-fired generation capacity in the five countries between 2000 and 2021 was 76.8 GW. Nigeria accounting for just under 3 per cent of global natural gas reserves added further 7.2 GW, and the remaining 3.6 GW (of 87.6 GW in Africa as a whole) came from all the other countries in the region.
Coal-fired power capacity in Africa increased by 12 GW between 2000 and 2021: 8.7 GW came from South Africa, the fifth largest exporter of steam coal, second only to Indonesia (7%), Australia (18%) and Russia (15%, according to the 2022IEA data) in global export. In its turn, Morocco’s coal-fired TPP capacity increase was 2.8 GW. The country relies mainly on imported fossil fuel. According to the UNCTAD/WTO International Trade Center, Morocco imported 10.8 million tons of coal in 2022, 95% of which came from Russia, South Africa and the United States, and the remaining 5% were predominantly from Colombia, Australia and Kazakhstan.
Chinese investment role
Investors and equipment suppliers from China have been active participants in the development of The TPP infrastructure in recent years. This includes, in particular, modernisation of previously built oil-fired TPPs, such as the 132 MW Hirgigo TPP (Eritrea) and the 386 MW Khartoum North TPP (Sudan). Construction of coal-fired power plants in South Africa was also China-funded, including the Kusile Power Station consisting (so far) of one 800 MW unit, and the Medupi Power Station having five power units with 800 MW capacity each (another planned unit will be 800 MW). In addition, China has supported the projects for construction and expansion of the gas-fired power plants in Nigeria (450 MW Garri TPP) and Equatorial Guinea (154 MW Malabo TPP).
In addition, China has invested in the construction of wind (the 153 MW Adama Wind Farm II in Ethiopia) and solar generators (the 55 MW Garissa solar power plant in Kenya) and in hydropower projects, including the 750 MW Kafue Gorge Lower HPP (Zambia), the 140 MW Gouina HPP (Mali) and the 240 MW Kaleta HPP (Guinea).
Power generation volume and mix: changes over 20 years
While hydropower accounted for 9 % in the power capacity growth in Africa between 2000 and 2021, the total share of solar and wind (excluding biomass) reached 13 %. The region’s leader in this energy segment is South Africa, where 9.4 GW of solar and wind generators were commissioned during this period. As a result, the total share of wind and solar in the power generation mix in South Africa, which was close to a statistical error in 2000, reached 6.7% in 2021 and 7.5% in 2022 (against 4.6% in Africa as a whole).
New capacity commissioning ensured an electricity consumption increase: while in 2000, it was 417.9 TWh, in 2021 – 834.2 TWh. An increase of just under 416 TWh is equivalent to 30% of Central and South America’s annual electricity generation (1,364.8 TWh in 2021, according to the BP World Energy Review). This growth will continue in the coming years. By mid-2023, the capacity of power plants under construction in Africa had reached 28.8 GW, including the three El Dabaa nuclear reactors.
