By Moses Patience Chat
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has projected a rise in Africa’s electricity demand by 4.1 per cent in the next two years.
This was revealed in the latest electricity market report by the Agency, which also revealed that electricity demand in Africa rose by 1.5 percent in 2022, with growth tampered by both lofty energy prices and high inflation rates.
According to IEA, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a downward revision in economic growth prospects in Africa due to a combination of record-level energy prices and high inflation rates, which weighed heavily on forecast for electricity demand across the region.
“The large majority of incremental generation by 2025 will come from renewable sources, followed by natural gas. We expect electricity delivered from renewable sources to increase by over 60 Terawatt-hour (TWh) in 2023-2025, to reach almost a 30 percent share of total generation by the end of the forecast period from the 24 percent in 2021, replacing coal as the second largest source of electricity in Africa,” the report read in part.
It also noted that natural gas is expected to remain the largest source of electricity in Africa through 2025, rising by around 30 TWh from 2022 to 2025 to close to 400 TWh.
The agency further said that coal-fired electricity generation is expected to remain stable in output at around 240 TWh, declining in terms of share from 28 percent in 2021 to 24 percent in 2025.