Investors
in energy from Germany, Canada, China and South Africa have descended on
Ghanaian capital Accra to explore ways of providing solar energy to sub-Saharan
Africa.
"The
growth in the power sector in sub-Saharan Africa is likely to be somewhere
between 60 and 80 gigawatts over the next ten years, and solar is going to form
10 to 15 percent of the overall increase in energy mix across sub-Saharan
Africa," Douglas Coleman, project director for Mere Power Nzema Limited,
told Anadolu Agency.
The
company is developing a 155MWP grid connected solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant
in Ghana. The solar PV plant will consist of over 630,000 solar modules
situated on 452 acres of land.
The
plant, according to the company, will be the largest in Africa. It will cost
approximately $350 million and is expected to begin electricity production in
2015.
"If
the legal, regulatory and political frameworks are in place, there is certainly
sufficient global capital with an appetite for investment in this sector in
sub-Saharan Africa," said Coleman.
Ghana
is currently hosting a two-day Sub-Saharan Africa Solar Conference organized by
independent business media company Magenta Global.
Investors
from Germany, Canada, China and South Africa are attending the conference.
Representatives
of the energy ministries and commissions of several sub-Saharan countries –
including Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda and South Africa – are also taking
part.
"Africa
has one of the best solar resources globally and these must be taken advantage
of because it is a fee-free stock," said Jasandra Nyker, CEO of South
Africa-based BioTherm Energy (Pty) Ltd.
"It
is infinite and solar solutions are modular and easy to roll out. So, I do
think there is an opportunity for us to take advantage of it," Nyker
added.
Challenges
Germany-based Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) has been implementing a program that promotes the development of renewable energy pilot projects by German and Ghanaian business partners.
Germany-based Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) has been implementing a program that promotes the development of renewable energy pilot projects by German and Ghanaian business partners.
"In
a bilateral program with the Government of Ghana, we are currently running it
for 1.85 million euros, but a larger program of ours in Nigeria is in the range
of 15 million euros," Steffen Behrle, the GIZ team leader at conference,
told AA.
Wisdom
Ahiataku-Togobo, director of Gahanna Energy and the Petroleum Ministry's
renewable energy directorate, cited several challenges facing the East African
country's quest to go solar.
"The
production of only 2.5 megawatts of solar energy covers 3.4 hectares and costs
$3.99," he told AA.
This,
the official said, poses a challenge to agricultural farms because large tracts
of land are needed to generate solar energy.
But
that's not a problem for Nigeria.
"Only
1 percent of Nigeria's land mass can sustain solar power for Nigeria,"
said Professor Lawrence I. N. Ezemonye, director of the Energy Commission at
Nigeria's National Center for Energy and Environment.
He
said over 97,000 rural communities in Nigeria were without electricity, urging
investors to support the West African country.
According
to statistics from the FMO Entrepreneurial Development Bank, the Dutch
development bank, sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing an energy crisis, with
only 24 percent of the population having access to energy.
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