At the BloombergUTV Power Summit 2011, India’s Minister of Power Sushil Kumar Shinde said: “Private players will need to play a bigger role in power production.” He added, “There is need for modernization and augmentation of thermal power and the power segment is fully open to private investors.”
Many comparisons can be drawn from India and applied to various African countries. The Minister said that India’s private sector participation was at 10%, but had increased to 30%. However, more than 50% is needed. “We have added more than 60,000 MW [of power generation to the national grid] during the last 5.5 years. More than 80,000 MW capacity is under construction [currently].”
Many African countries are actively pursuing private investors to increase energy generation. Looking at India as an example could benefit those African nations while modeling a system that suits the needs of individual countries. New analysis released from Frost & Sullivan found that the electricity generation industry presents a significant and lucrative opportunity for private sector participants in South Africa.
“Market growth for private power producers in South Africa is being driven by a pressing need for new generation capacity and the associated cost of financing this new build,” noted Frost & Sullivan’s Energy and Power Systems Research Analyst Gareth Blanckenberg. “Renewable energy generation is set to become the largest area of participation for private power producers in South Africa, with several projects already in the developmental phase.”
Alternative Energy Africa is trying to reduce its own carbon footprint in 2011. Ask about our electronic subscriptions and online marketing campaigns specially tailored for individual companies.