A Grid for all Seasons: Enhancing the Integration of Variable Solar and Wind Power in Electricity Systems Across Africa

Abstract

Purpose of review This review paper assesses recent scientific findings around the integration of variable renewable electricity (VRE) sources, mostly solar PV and wind power, on power grids across Africa, in the context of expanding electricity access while ensuring low costs and reducing fossil fuel emissions. Recent findings In this context, significant research attention has been given to increased cross-border transmission infrastructure between African countries to harness the spatiotemporal complementarities between renewable electricity resources, as well as to storage options, such as battery storage and power-to-gas. Summary Much of the recent, model-based literature suggests that a combination of increased interconnections in and between Africa’s power pools, leveraging spatiotemporal complementarities between solar PV, wind and hydropower, as well as a large-scale deployment of storage options could help African countries meet their burgeoning power demand with largely decarbonized electricity supply.

An all-Africa dataset of energy model “supply regions” for solar photovoltaic and wind power

“…Gabon, Equatorial Guinea) find themselves at the low end for both. This suggests that, in the future (in which countries’ power systems are expected to become more interconnected), some specific countries may potentially emerge as typical “VRE hubs” (similarly to how some countries, like Ethiopia and Guinea, are already known as hydropower hubs 5 , 8 ).…”

“…Solar PV and wind power, classified as variable renewable electricity (VRE) resources, exhibit weather-related variability on all timescales from sub-hourly to interannual, and their yield is site-specific. A power system with a high share of VRE necessitates increased power system flexibility to cope with these variabilities 5 . Long-term energy planning, and models used therein, therefore need to take these aspects into consideration 6 .…”

“…a portfolio of solar and wind power plants across the most appropriate locations. For the African continent, whose burgeoning power systems imply a chance to plan power grids from the outset to accommodate VRE 5 , the need for such modelling exercises is especially high.…”

Contextualizing the scope, scale, and speed of energy pathways toward sustainable development in Africa

“…The modeling outcome illustrates that a fully decarbonized power system relying on low-cost solar and wind together with hydropower is achievable with a minor contribution from bioenergy and gas turbines powered by e-fuels. It is noteworthy that Africa’s supply side flexibility is also linked to the flexibility of dispatchable renewables, especially dammed hydropower ( Sterl, 2021a ). A sector-coupled energy system as observed in this study is closely linked to low-cost RE and valuable flexibility options in difficult-to-abate segments, mainly enabled by flexible electrolyzers for hydrogen production.…”

“…Endowed with substantial RE sources, African countries are excellent “greenfields” for large-scale RE deployment ( Sterl, 2021a ). Equally salient is the continuous decline in RE costs and their higher rates of positive learning ( Junginger and Louwen, 2020 ; Vartiainen et al., 2020 ; Jaxa-Rozen and Trutnevyte, 2021 ; Schmidt et al., 2017 ).…”