Gas, renewables to power Africa’s energy future

from DION HENRICK in Cape Town
CAPE TOWN, (CAJ News) – A COMBINATION of renewables and gas power could lead to significant emissions reduction while delivering reliable, affordable and sustainable power in Africa.

This has been the prevailing theme at the Enlit Africa conference in Cape Town, South Africa, where experts discussed viable solutions which can be adapted to scale up Africa’s energy systems.

Nosizwe Dlengezele, Regional Sales Executive for GE Gas Power Sub-Saharan Africa, spoke at the keynote session.

She said the energy transition remained the greatest uncertainty for the power sector today – the need to simultaneously balance affordability, reliability, and sustainability.

“Gas will play a critical role in the energy transition by complementing the renewables growth and supporting grid reliability,” Dlengezele said.

Gas also offers the opportunity of conversions towards net-zero goals through hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization and sequestration (CCUS) technologies.

Natural gas-fired generators have the lowest carbon emissions of all fossil power generation fuels.

For African countries reliant on coal power, the growth of high efficiency combined cycle gas-fired power generation will support both coal-to-gas transition and accelerate renewables penetration by enhancing the reliability and stability of the energy grid.

Dlengezele maintained the need to create an energy environment in Africa that fosters industrialization while meeting global and country climate change targets.

“For GE, gas and renewables is the most viable solution to make substantive reductions in emissions quickly,” she stated.

Although approximately 600 million Africans remain without access to reliable energy, the continent has made significant progress in recent decades towards addressing the energy challenges it faces.

– CAJ News