Cogeneration is accelerating, particularly in areas where access to power is limited; however, sub-Saharan Africa has failed to utilize the technology for export to the national grid.
Frost & Sullivan has released “The Emerging Cogeneration Market in Sub-Saharan Africa” which shows the sector’s potential to produce between 1% and 20% of a country’s total electricity demand per annum spanning from South Africa, Tanzania, Mauritius, Uganda, and Cote d’Ivoire.
Drivers for the cogeneration market include energy shortages, environmental concerns, waste usage, and government incentives and rebates. Restraints are often linked to the lack of infrastructure, implementation costs, and the absence of government support. “Growth in sub-Saharan Africa cogeneration is driven primarily by energy shortages,” noted Frost & Sullivan’s Energy & PowerSystems industry analyst Megan Van Den Berg. “Companies need to produce their own power to meet electricity demands and most have by-products from processes performed that can be used as fuel or heat.”
Companies in Africa incorporate cogeneration facilities to meet or supplement their electricity and power demands, as there is usually insufficient power available from the local utilities. The cogeneration market, overall, is expected to increase in sub-Saharan Africa over the next 10 years, especially among industries that are looking to expand into this region. However, low electricity tariffs have served as a disincentive to investment into increasing a cogeneration plant’s efficiency to produce excess power for the national grids in sub-Saharan African countries.
“The lower priority given to cogenerated power production, when compared to other renewables, and limited government understanding and support, have resulted in a lack of policies that would provide security of investment and tariffs to justify implementation costs,” added Van Den Berg.
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