Exploring Wind Energy Adoption in Africa

According to research commissioned by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 2022, Africa’s wind energy can supply its electricity demand 250 times over. However, progress in harnessing power from wind energy on the continent has been limited. So far, only three African countries, Egypt, Morocco and South Africa, have installed more than one gigawatt (GW) of wind energy capacity. Exploring wind energy adoption in Africa is crucial and will contribute to reducing the consequences of climate change and energy deficits.

The effects of climate change are evident in the increased frequency of extreme weather conditions such as droughts and floods. These effects severely impact food security, water resources, health and access to energy. The United Nations estimated that these effects would worsen in the coming years. As a result, there is a need for African countries to diversify their energy mixes with renewables like wind energy. Wind as an alternative energy source provides benefits, including the absence of harmful emissions that fuel climate change. In addition, it is one of the most cost-effective resources among different renewable energy technologies.

According to Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), the technical wind resource potential on the African continent alone is over 59,000 GW. This number is more than three times the continent’s current installed power capacity. Hence, if successfully achieved, exploring wind energy adoption in Africa would benefit the continent in improving electricity access for its population. Nigeria, in particular, has a significant wind energy potential of around 10 GW.

Egypt was the first country in Africa to integrate wind energy into its electricity mix. A thorough wind atlas for Egypt’s Gulf of Suez coast, released in 2003, showed that the area has an excellent wind regime with wind speeds of 10 m/s. Leveraging on this, Egypt has remained at the forefront of wind energy adoption in Africa. The country’s first wind farm was commissioned in 2010, and since then, it has been actively working to increase its wind energy capacity.

Currently, Egypt has installed a wind capacity of around 1.5 GW. At the 2022 COP27, Egypt signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates to build one of the world’s largest wind farms for $11 billion. The 10 GW wind farm is expected to offset about 9 per cent of Egypt’s carbon dioxide emissions. All these efforts push the country closer to achieving its target of producing 42% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030

Another African country that is actively developing wind energy is Ethiopia. The country has set a target of increasing generating capacity by 25,000MW from renewable energy sources by 2030, and wind energy is expected to play a significant role in meeting this target. Ethiopia has already commissioned its first wind farm, the Adama Wind Farm, which has a capacity of 153 MW.

Over the years, the technologies for harnessing wind energy have been explored in northern Nigeria, like Sokoto, Kano, Bauchi and Plateau states. However, these efforts have been unsuccessful due to a lack of financing, security issues and non-existent policies.

Taking a page from Egypt and Ethiopia, Nigeria can learn the importance of setting ambitious targets for exploring wind energy adoption by actively working to achieve them through developing policies that support the development of wind energy projects. Additionally, creating an enabling environment for the private sector to invest in wind energy projects would be incredibly beneficial.

Wind energy is a promising renewable energy source that has the potential to play a significant role in resolving the erratic and epileptic state of power in Africa whilst addressing climate change concerns. With high wind resources and ambitious targets, Nigeria can work to develop its wind energy sector and become a leader in this emerging market.