Grand African $40.5 Billion Power Generation and Transmission Plan Runs Through 2020

Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Priority is being given to 15 energy projects in the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA). The overall program has been put together by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and covers the transport, water, information technology infrastructure and energy sectors.

The investment required for the energy projects totals $40.5 billion, and the plan is scheduled to be implemented through 2020 to provide improved energy access and further economic growth.

The project portfolio emphasizes the development of a cross-border energy market and covers nine hydropower projects, four transmission corridors, a gas pipeline and an oil pipeline.

Priority had been given to the projects to meet the African Union's (AU) desire to raise energy access across the continent to better than 60% through 2040. The projects would be additional to other national initiatives and responsibility for implementation would rest with participating countries, said Professor Mosad Elmissiry, energy division head for NEPAD planning and coordination agency. The AU commission and the African Development Bank would facilitate fundraising efforts and would support project implementation and monitoring, he said.

Additional projects would be included over the five-year investment period with the transmission corridors seen as playing a crucial role in stimulating additional power generation projects over the medium term (2021 to 2030) and the long term (2031 to 2040), as this infrastructure would enable countries to evacuate power to areas of demand.

Included in the four corridors are the north-south transmission link from Egypt to South Africa, with branches going mainly into East Africa; the central corridor from Angola to South Africa, with branches to central and western Africa; an Egypt to Morocco North African link via Libya, Tunisia and Algeria; and the West African corridor, linking Ghana to Senegal, plus branch links.

Included in the nine hydropower projects are the Great Millennium Renaissance dam in Ethiopia; Mphanda-Nkuwa project in Mozambique; Democratic Republic of Congo's Inga hydro schemes; hydropower from Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II; Sambangalou project on the Gambia River; Guinea's Keleta 11; Batoka Gorge on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border; Rwanda's Ruzizi 111 project and the Rusumo Falls scheme developed by Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.

The pipelines in the program are the Uganda-Kenya petroleum products and the Nigeria-Algeria gas pipelines.

The target of 60% energy access through 2040 is based on an economic growth rate of 6.2%, annual energy demand growth of 5.7% and expansion of Africa's population from around the current 1 billion to more than 2 billion by 2050. To meet that demand, power capacity would need to increase fivefold through 2040.

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