Africa to add 1.8GW of renewable energy in 2014

A reduction in costs for wind and solar power as well as an increasing demand for electricity could see more renewable energy projects commissioned in sub-Saharan Africa this year. That’s […]

A reduction in costs for wind and solar power as well as an increasing demand for electricity could see more renewable energy projects commissioned in sub-Saharan Africa this year.

That’s according to a new report which predicts 1.8GW of renewable energy capacity, excluding large hydro power plants, will be installed in 2014.

That’s more than the amount that came online in the entire 2000-13 period, analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) said.

Investment in countries including South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia is estimated at $5.9 billion (£3.6bn) this year and may reach $7.7 billion (£4.6bn) in 2016. Average annual investment from 2006 through 2011 was just $1 billion (£0.6bn)

Victoria Cuming, Senior Analyst at BNEF said: “Sub-Saharan Africa is not new to renewable energy… What is different now is the breadth of activity, with wind, solar and geothermal exciting interest in many different countries and the potential for further growth.”

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