South Africa’s interest in the development of solar generation is linked to the obsolete national power grid, which often causes power outages. According to the national electricity operator ESKOM, power grid failures in South Africa were recorded on 80 out of 365 days in 2021, with the number of such days rising to 320 in 2023. The situation is exacerbated by breakdowns at coal-fired power plants, many of which have been in operation for over 40 years. Since the modernization of TPPs and electric grid infrastructure requires significant capital investments, major consumers are trying to hedge energy supply risks by developing off-grid power generation.
As for Egypt, its industry development is driven by the overall growth in power demand. According to Ember, the country’s power consumption rose by more than 50% between 2010 and 2023 (up to 219 TWh). The El Dabaa NPP, the first nuclear power plant in Egypt’s history, which will have a total capacity of 4.8 GW, is designed to meet the growing power demand. However, nuclear energy is highly capital-intensive: for instance, it costs an average of $2,800 to bring into operation 1 MW of nuclear capacity in China, whereas the launch of 1 MW of photovoltaic panels only costs $670 (as estimated by the International Energy Agency). Due to the large difference in capital costs, Egypt is compelled to develop renewables: the country’s total renewable energy capacity rose from 3.4 GW in 2010 to 6.7 GW in 2023.
Other leaders in the region in terms of solar development include the Central African Republic, where PV panels accounted for 43% of electricity generated last year, as well as Mauritania (21%) and Namibia (13%). In addition to installing solar panels, a number of countries are implementing energy storage projects to optimize the use of renewables: according to the AFSIA, projects for energy storage systems with a total capacity of 500 MW are planned in South Africa, Senegal, Malawi, Botswana, Tanzania, Namibia and Mauritius.
