Wedoany.com Report-Oct 15, A new energy mix with a high renewables component would hold massive advantages for people in Africa – and the economics mean it is likely to be implemented sooner, rather than later.

This was the message at the Africa Oil Week (AOW): Investing in African Energy conference in Cape Town, which ended on 10 October.

A series of panels at the event delved into the continent’s respective clean-energy industries, as part of the AOW Clean Energy Future Forum.

Delegates heard how the narrative around Africa’s energy future is no longer one of scarcity, as a mosaic of established and emerging players now contribute to the continent’s rapidly evolving energy mix.

Renewables mooted to dominate the energy landscape in South Africa

With the AOW focus on enabling energy dealmaking, the Forum shared crucial insights for investors on navigating regulatory frameworks, identifying project pipelines, and outlining the role of various energy sources in powering Africa’s future.

A panel dedicated to mapping Africa’s energy future discussed the enormous potential of variable renewable energy (VRE) in South Africa, noting that the country is blessed with significant solar and wind resources – making a transition to 100% renewable energy a real, practical possibility.

Wind and solar complement each other, mitigating seasonal fluctuations and enhancing grid stability, and advancements in battery storage technology are already sufficiently advanced to solve for intermittency and even provide grid services at scale.

Speakers also noted that renewables are now extremely affordable, often outcompeting fossil fuels in many scenarios, and that with 150GW of new renewables projects in the pipeline, the new energy dispensation would be transformative for the country.

“The economics make it inevitable that we’re going to see fossil fuels replaced by variable supply, simply because we can turn that variable supply into a constant supply through cheap storage and opportunities,” said Frank Spencer, Cainmani regional director: Southern Africa.

Challenges to this emerging renewables scenario are outdated regulations and licensing procedures that often hinder the rapid deployment of renewables and microgrids.

There was also a need to invest in a robust and geographically diversified transmission grid to harness the full potential of VRE, the conference heard.

“One of the bigger questions we’re facing, as we start to unbundle the monopoly utility, is how do we ensure that a new transmission system operator actually plays the right role,” said Happy Khambule, Director: energy and environment policy at Business Unity South Africa.