Africa has some catching up to do. Despite the continent being rich in fuel types for cogeneration, Africa is still behind other progressing countries such as India, China, and Brazil. There were more than 1,600 clean development mechanism (CDM) technology projects in addition to more than 260 other cogeneration projects in development worldwide as of April 2007.
The contribution of cogeneration to the world’s electricity mix was set to increase to 10% or 900 GW by 2010, up from 6.5% currently, but Africa was still lagging behind in exploiting its full energy potential associated with cogeneration, Kenya-based Energy for Sustainable Development MD Stephen Mutimba said.
However, he noted that tapping into these cogeneration opportunities could allot power to rural electrification programs and deliver employment opportunities. Mutimba said Africa had the potential to produce 10,000 GWh of electricity through cogeneration from sugarcane alone.
Mutimba also said this sector would require adequate government policies, incentives, and regulatory frameworks which seem to be the largest obstacle.