Electricity-hungry Africa urged to use hydropower, increase capacity

The hydropower potential of the continent, mostly in central and western Africa, amounts to 13 percent of the world and can play a critical role in meeting its energy needs while safeguarding the criteria of sustainable development, said Joshua Ofedie, CEO of Ghana's Volta River Authority (VRA).

But the enormous low cost hydroelectric potential, such as from the Inga Falls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has been "significantly unused," Ofedie told the 8th Pan-African Power Congress in Midrand, north Johannesburg.

Electricity in Africa is mainly generated from coal (46 percent) , gas (23 percent), hydro (18 percent), oil (11 percent) and nuclear (2 percent).

"Hydro power provides a relatively clean source of energy and its life cycle cost is cheaper compared to thermal sources," Ofedie said, adding that the prospect of future exhaustion of fossil fuels with possible further price increase could be a " strong incentive" to the use of hydroelectric energy.

After the independence in 1957, Ghana launched its Volta Hydroelectric Power Projects (HPP) at Akosombo in the early 1960s as part of a national strategy to accelerate the economy of the West African nation.

The installed capacity of the Akosombo HPP, 588 MW (megawatts), together with the Kpong HPP in the 1980s, has not only satisfied the country's energy needs for initial industrialization, but produced extra energy for neighboring Togo and Benin, Ofedie said.

He said the VRA's experience showed that the development of large base loaded hydroelectric power projects could result in relatively stable and predictable economies.

"What the Akosombo HPP did for Ghana, Togo and Benin can be replicated where there is potential for low cost technically and economically feasible hydroelectric power on Africa," he said.

Ofedie admitted that the Volta projects, like many other hydropower projects around the world, have caused negative impacts such as loss of land, displacement of people, impact of fauna and flora, and change in river flows.

"It is therefore important to mitigate these challenges through holistic project planning and implementation that integrate enviro- social and project concerns," he said.

Now Ghana is looking into a prospective project to supply parts of West Africa with hydroelectric power from Inga Falls in the DRC, as the electrical energy demand in Ghana and neighboring countries has already exceeded the capacity of the existing hydroelectric generating resources.

The proposed dam at the Inga site has an estimated electricity capacity of 40 GW (gigawatts), according to Titus Mbathi, chairman of the Kenyan Electricity Generating Company.

Africa's power paradox is that although the continent is endowed with vast natural resources it has a deficit in generating capacity, heard the Johannesburg meeting that focused on increasing generating capacity across Africa.

Egypt has large quantities of natural gas and coal, while South Africa generates more than 90 percent of its power from coal. The Rift Valley running from the Red Sea to Mozambique has geothermal resources estimated at 7 GW, said Mbathi.

However, Africa produces only 3.1 percent of the world's electricity, less than any other region of the world, and was experiencing "a common crisis namely power shortage," he said.

About one third of households in sub-Saharan Africa still have no access to electricity, according to estimation by the United Nations.

"Without access to adequate energy services, the majority of Africans would continue to suffer from deep poverty, since energy is required for industrial and commercial growth, and most basic domestic needs such as cooking and heating," Ofedie said.

Kenya and Cameroon respectively require about 150 MW on a fast track basis and Egypt is already implementing a 5-year program to add 4.5 GW to the grid by 2008.

"Uganda and Tanzania are already rationing power, and blackouts have hit South Africa in the last few months," despite a number of initiatives that the African nations have taken to bridge the power gap, Mbathi said.

African countries have embarked on establishment of regional power pools in northern, southern, western, central and eastern Africa in the past 30 years because "individual country efforts are often constrained by lack of capitals as well as economies of scale," he said.

Even with South Africa, Africa's leading power generator, as a key member, the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) was quickly using up its 45,000 MW capacity due to a 3 percent rise in electricity demand in the region.

"With no investment in generation capacity, it is expected that in 2007 the SAPP will start to run out of generation surplus," warned Lawrence Musaba, SAPP coordination center manager.

Mbathi suggested to develop an African Master Power Plan to first take an inventory of the continent's energy resources, and seek to optimize the demand and supply side mix in various countries.

This plan should also focus on least cost options incorporating strategies for fuel, geographic diversity and multiple investment opportunities.

More importantly, there must be a political commitment in Africa to "establish interconnectivity between different regions in the interests of all concerned" to establish an integrated African power grid, he said.