The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has launched the Africa Wind Power Initiative (AWP) with the aim of accelerating the development of wind energy in Africa. The association that promotes the development of wind energy proposes to act as a facilitator between African governments and wind energy investors or producers through this project. The organisation will take action at the regulatory level in particular.
For the Nairobi, Kenya-based organisation, the delay in the development of wind energy is due to the breakthrough of fossil fuels such as gas in electricity production, despite the stated desire to develop clean energy. According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank Group’s private sector finance arm, the African continent has a technical wind resource potential of more than 59,000 GW, enough to meet 250 times the continent’s electricity demand. In its 2020 report, the organization states that 821 MW of new wind capacity (in 2020) has been installed in Africa and the Middle East, bringing the region’s total capacity to over 7 GW. However, this installed capacity only accounts for 0.01 per cent of Africa’s total wind energy potential.
In September 2021, South Africa began the commercial operations of the Greefspan II Solar PV plant. It is located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The project was established under a partnership between the fund manager African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), the Spanish company TSK and South Africa’s Umbono Energy Partners. The total capacity of the plant is 63.2 MW, with roughly 188,822 photovoltaic modules installed. The power generated by the solar power plant has the capacity to cater to the energy needs of 20,000 South African households.
