POWER UTILITIES IN AFRICA

ADRIAN ONSARE.
HUSNI MUBARAK. A REVIEW.
STEPHEN MUSUNGU.
JAMES WASULA.
JOSHUA OTIENO.
 SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES.
A study of the correlation between
energy and development.

Brief on electricity in SSA region.

The energy value chain.

Review of utilities in DRC,Nigeria

& South Africa.
 OBJECTIVES
Interpretation of title and our approach
Energy & development.
Why SSA?
Value chain
Summary of SWOT analysis of three
countries.
SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES.
A study of the correlation between energy and development:
GDP per capita vs energy use per capita.
GDP per capita vs energy use per capita with consideration to population.

Brief on electricity in SSA region.

Energy trilemma: sustainability, security, affordability
Energy resource potential.
Recent developments.
Challenges.

The energy value chain;

Introduction.
Review of value chain elements.
Review of utilities in DRC,NIGERIA & SOUTH AFRICA.
THE ENERGY & DEVELOPMENT
ENERGY &DEVELOPMENT CTD..
Source: https://www.eea.europa.eu
Generally, countries with high energy
consumption per capita tend to have high
GDP.
Energy consumption cannot be decoupled
from GDP.
African Countries generally have low GDP
per capita and associated low energy use in
Tonnes of oil equivalent per Capita.
Countries with high populations, but with
relatively low energy consumption also have
comparatively low GDP per Capita, as
compared to countries wit high population
and high energy consumption per capita. E.g.
India vs USA.
Source:http:WWW.euanmearns.com
 INSTALLED CAPACITY & TOTAL GENERATION
COMPARISON.
250

200

150

100

50

0
INSTALLED CAPACITY(GW) TOTAL GENERATION (TWH)

Kenya DRC SA
WHY SSA?

SSA countries have similar socio-economic

indicators-different from North Africa.
North African countries members of COMELEC
Similar Challenges across the energy value
chain as opposed to better developed North
African countries.
Congo-Highest Hydro Potential in the world.
SA: Largest power utility in Africa in terms of
asset base.
Nigeria: Most populous country in Africa &
largest economy.
THE ENERGY VALUE CHAIN
 ENERGY VALUE CHAIN ELEMENTS.
Energy sources: first element of energy value chain.
Diversified energy resource base enhances energy security.
Kenya has sought to reduce overreliance on hydro, with significant investment
in geothermal & wind so as to diversify energy mix.
Generation:
In many ssa countries, generation does not meet demand, hence there is more
investment in generation projects.
Investment is meant to address current shortfall and projected growth in
demand.
In many ssa countries, increased installed capacities do not necessarily
translate to increased actual generation mostly due to deployment of
inefficient technologies.
In isolation, bumping up generation does not solve all problems in the power
sector
 TRANSMISSION:
Has to be developed along with generation and load
growth.
Increased demand in SSA countries & desire for redundancy
has necessitated investment in energy transmission
infrastructure.
Increased development of high capacity transmission line
infrastructure to evacuate power from large generation,
improve reliability, enhance power trade in power pools,
and reduce overloading of exiting transmission lines.
 Energy storage: not popular in large scale in SSA since reserve margin is still
very low. E.G. Kenya is approx. 28-30%.
However, with uptake of renewable energy technologies, storage may be
necessary to mitigate intermittency of solar/wind.

Energy trading:
As mentioned, lack of diversified generation mix is major challenge in SSA.
Energy trading would open up opportunities for generation resource sharing.
Generation resource sharing would result in a diversity in the energy mix &
reduce reserve requirements.
Europe has the European energy exchange; this is an avenue for trading of
physical energy commodities and derivatives trading.
Energy trading ctd..
SSA however, only has power pools, which are a series
of bilateral agreements between countries. I.E. East
African power pool(EAPP), west African power
pool(WAPP), southern Africa power pool(SAPP),Central
African power pool(CAPP).
SAPP most advanced.
Main shortcomings of power pools are conflicting
national policies & need for significant investment in
transmission infrastructure.
Trade on power pools currently minimal- less than 1% for
EAPP, less than 7% for SAPP.
 SMART TECHNOLOGIES:
Mainly smart grids and smart metering.
Important in determining accurate consumer energy
consumption & to find optimum deployment of
generation sources.
Issues non-cost reflective tariffs, billing errors and
tampering of prepaid electricity meters
KEY LESSONS
Generation.
Proper & timely planning to avert low reserve margins that would lead to load shedding.
Push kengen & IPPS to ensure better capacity utilization.
Continue diversification of energy mix to improve energy security.
Transmission & storage.
Several SSA countries but transmission lines to improve transmission coverage & entrenching
redundancy.
Need for R&D & Investment in bulk power storage to address peak loads as demand grows.
E.G. Pumped storage, compressed air storage etc.
Energy trading.
Strengthening EAPP to develop the East African energy exchange.
Financially traded energy products i.e. futures, derivatives.
 DISTRIBUTION:
Distribution infrastructure direct correlation to electrification rates.
Most affected by faults, breakdowns, vandalism.
Most ssa countries have high aggregate technical, commercial & collection losses.
In ssa countries, distribution losses exceed north American & European average of
8%.
Kenya currently undertaking intensive rural electrification programed through
expanding distribution network.
Tariff structure a key comment in distribution
High tariffs can lead to cost push inflation.
Low power tariffs can make it difficult for utility companies to maintain
infrastructure.
 KEY LESSONS CTD
Distribution & smart technologies.
Asset management approach: i.e. Feeder based management.
Improve smart technologies to address electricity theft & protect revenues.
Adoption of GIT transformer technology to avert vandalism.
Miscellaneous
Proper tariff control: to ensure healthy balance sheets for Kenyan utility
companies; money needed for new projects.
An effective labour relations framework should be in place to avoid labour
crises during critical times.
Ensuring political stability to avert supply disruptions.
Aggressively address corruption .
PROJECTS
4,800MW Medupi Coal Power Station-SA
39GW Expansion of the Grand Inga Hydro Scheme
500HVDC ETHIOPIA-KENYA LINK
LINK(Wolyata Sodo-Suswa substations.
THE END