East Africa New Energy Lithium Battery Storage

Confirmed development of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) across Africa is still small compared to global projections, says a study. The confirmed development of Battery Energy Storage Systems across Africa is still small compared to global projections – less than 0.5% of the global BESS capacity of 358GW by 2030.

Naicker says it is important to develop a local lithium-ion battery plant, as all lithium-ion batteries used in Africa are currently imported from mega-factories in the northern hemisphere. In fact, he believes there is an “arms-like race” to establish battery production in the northern hemisphere, but with no plans to do the same in Africa.

It further says that lithium-ion batteries are currently dominating the global market, delivering up to eight hours of storage and showing minimal degradation over 10 years. “But other technology options are emerging fast that could cater more cost-effectively for evolving system requirements.

The African Continental Power System Masterplan (CMP) study into BESS says that considering Africa's rapidly growing power requirements and the already planned contributions from variable renewable energy (VRE), these commitments do not fully reflect the potential for BESS on the continent.

The masterplan is being developed by the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) with the EU-GTAF, IRENA and IAEA. “A conservative estimation, not including all power pools for lack of data, suggests that 4.8 to 7.7GW installed capacity is reasonably possible by 2030 and 2040 respectively,” the study says.