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Enormous job opportunities in renewable energy for Africa

Renewable energy projects in Africa can generate jobs, Two-thirds of capacity needed yet to be built Gulf News, By Binsal Abdul Kader , March 2, 2012 Abu Dhabi If Africa adopts renewable energy to meet the growing demand for energy capacity, it can generate several million jobs in the continent, according to the Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena).
Africa faces a unique opportunity as nearly two-thirds of the additional capacity needed by 2030 has yet to be built. The continent can benefit from the recent global progress and cost reductions in renewable power generation technologies, and move directly to a
renewable-based system, the agency said…..
Adnan Z. Ameen, director-general of Irena, recently said that smart
government policies could accelerate the quest for more sustainable
sources of energy in Africa and improve millions of lives across the
continent.
“Innovative investment mechanisms and sharply falling manufacturing
and installation costs of renewable energy technologies, including
wind, advanced biomass and solar power are essential to further
unlocking the continent’s vast potential,” he said in a closing
address to the Africa roll-out of the UN International Year of
Sustainable Energy for All (Iysea) in Nairobi.
Technologies
Ameen, who serves as a member of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s
high level group on Iysea also pointed out that many countries in
Africa are already successfully testing the technologies and policies
needed to bring energy to rural areas and growing cities.
According to a recent Irena working paper on Prospects for the African
Power Sector, Africa is endowed with very large, high-quality
renewable energy resources that can provide electricity for all at an
affordable cost as renewable technology costs continue to decline.
About the innovative investment mechanisms to unlock the renewable
energy potential in Africa, Gielen told Gulf News that Irena works
with governments and financing institutions to find solutions to
financing problems……
Hydropower: Energy solution
Large hydropower is the least-cost renewable energy solution today,
according to International Renewable Energy Agency.
This is followed by onshore wind, biomass and geothermal. Solar is
still more expensive, but has a huge potential and costs are coming
down rapidly, the agency said.
The rough costs of energy from renewable sources are:
Large hydro project $0.05/ kWh (kilowatt hour)
Onshore wind $0.07-0.10/kWh.
Biomass varies widely but typically $0.05-0.12/kWh.
Geothermal also variable but around $0.06-0.09/kWh for good quality resources.
Solar PV (photovoltaic) $0.15-0.20/kWh (grid connected), perhaps
0.20-0.30/kWh with battery storage (off grid).
Solar CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) $0.20-0.25/kWh. Note that numbers
cannot be compared for ongrid and offgrid, and the quality of the
resource varies widely from place to place and impacts the cost.
http://gulfnews.com/business/general/renewable-energy-projects-in-africa-can-generate-jobs-1.988850

March 3, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general