Africa’s wind installations surge

As Egypt announces a 10-gigawatt wind farm, the continent is witnessing a considerable rise in wind power installations in both established and newer markets

By Conrad Onyango, bird story agency

In 2019, Kenya unveiled what was then Africa’s largest wind power project, the Lake Turkana Wind Power Farm, with a capacity to dispense 310 megawatts (310 MW) of clean and sustainable energy.

Barely five years later, that project is dwarfed by a new project on the continent, while wind installations are seeing a surge in established and nascent markets.

Egypt is set to host the continent’s next largest wind project after a consortium of three Emirati and Egyptian energy firms announced they had secured land for a 10 gigawatt (10 GW) wind farm. A gigawatt is 1,000 MW, making this a 10,000 MW project.

The land purchase agreement was witnessed by government officials from the United Arabs Emirates Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Egypt’s Prime Minister, Moustafa Madbouly.

“This 10GW onshore wind project is set to be one of the largest wind farms in the world, and largest on the African continent,” said UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Sultan Al Jaber. 

The three companies – Emirati energy company Masdar, Egypt’s Hassan Allam Utilities, and Infinity Power, a joint venture between Infinity Energy, Hassam Allam Utilities and Masdar, expect the cost of the project to be some US$10 billion.

Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker Al-Markabi lauded the role of state-owned companies in the project.

“The national Egyptian entities play a vital role in creating an environment that is supportive of investment with low risks, and high interaction with the financing institutions and development partners,” Al-Markabi said.

Other large-scale wind projects planned in Egypt include Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power’s 1.1GW wind farm, expected to be operational by 2026 and a 3GW project of France’s Engie.

The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has listed Egypt, Morocco, Kenya and South Africa among established markets that are seeing a significant rise in the number of wind projects.

According to the Council’s World Wind Report 2023, South Africa (with 5.3 GW) will lead Africa in new wind capacity over the next five years, while Egypt (with 3.6 GW) will come in second, followed by Morocco with 2.2 GW.

Construction of Castle’s 89 MW wind farm project and plans by Red Rocket to develop 373 MW across three wind farms are just some of the latest activities in South Africa.

Similarly, GWEC said installations are being witnessed in the emerging wind markets of Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania, Tunisia, Mauritania, Nigeria and Ghana.

In January, the Tunisian government floated a tender for the development of eight wind projects with a maximum capacity of 75 MW each, as part of bigger plans to develop 1600 MW of new renewable energy.

In May, NamPower, Namibia’s state-owned electricity company entered a pact with Cerim Lüderitz Energy, a Chinese-Namibian joint venture to build a 50 MW wind farm.

Amsterdam-based renewable energy producer, Lekela Power, which operates a 2.8 GW portfolio including seven wind farms in Egypt, South Africa and Senegal, announced plans for wind power in Morocco, Tunisia, and Kenya, affirming their attractiveness as growth markets.

The projects are expected to help unlock Africa’s vast wind potential and boost its global share of wind power from a paltry 1%. The entire current installed capacity in Africa is less than 9% of the new capacity added worldwide in 2022.

“Wind energy has so much to offer Africa as a driver of sustainable economic growth. As an African wind industry, we have already shown that we can provide people with clean and reliable electricity, make business, industry and entire economies more competitive, all the while decarbonising energy systems,” said GWEC’s Africa WindPower Director, Wangari Muchiri.

Globally, 77.6 GW of new wind power capacity was connected to power grids in 2022, bringing the total installed wind capacity to 906 GW, according to the GWEC.

bird story agency