Are Blackouts A Normal Thing In Africa? (country, versus, cost)
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My colleague who works in the same clinic as I always complains why electrical supply blackouts are very common in his home country in Africa and that's why they're not progressing. I know for a fact that their are over 50 countries in that continent. So that begs the question - Do every single of the 50+ countries there have these black outs (not including South Africa), or are there a few of them that have gone through the technological aha moment and figured out the secret to constant and sustained electricity supply?
My colleague who works in the same clinic as I always complains why electrical supply blackouts are very common in his home country in Africa and that's why they're not progressing. I know for a fact that their are over 50 countries in that continent. So that begs the question - Do every single of the 50+ countries there have these black outs (not including South Africa), or are there a few of them that have gone through the technological aha moment and figured out the secret to constant and sustained electricity supply?
If anyone from an energy company in one of these countries happens to come across this thread, will you please share your secret with PG&E in California.
Keep in mind that quite a few countries in Africa do not have actual 'running power' and rely solely on generators for said power. Either way, my guess with blackouts would be extremely dilapidated infrastructure, overabundance of demand, etc. Quite a difference from country to country methinks, and only been to a couple there, so cannot comment on the majority, especially when it comes to power. Our compounds in such countries have always had generators.
My colleague who works in the same clinic as I always complains why electrical supply blackouts are very common in his home country in Africa and that's why they're not progressing. I know for a fact that their are over 50 countries in that continent. So that begs the question - Do every single of the 50+ countries there have these black outs (not including South Africa), or are there a few of them that have gone through the technological aha moment and figured out the secret to constant and sustained electricity supply?
Take in mind since electrification is increasing so rapidly most of the numbers are out of date if their 4-5 years old. For example, Kenya increased Electrification from around 20-30% to 70-80% from 2010-2018.
Ethiopia also plans to have an electricity surplus and be selling electricity after they finish filling the Renaissance dam. The dam has enough power to not only meet Ethiopia’s electricity needs but actually meet Two Ethiopia’s needs and thus excess electricity will be sold to nearby countries like Kenya which is aiming to be 100% electrified by 2022. Ghana didn’t meet its 100% electrified plan by 2020 but its well on its way. By 2030 probably somewhere around 10 more African Countries will join the 90%+ club (a bit higher than the current global average) and making it roughly 20/54 countries in total.
Keep in mind that quite a few countries in Africa do not have actual 'running power' and rely solely on generators for said power. Either way, my guess with blackouts would be extremely dilapidated infrastructure, overabundance of demand, etc. Quite a difference from country to country methinks, and only been to a couple there, so cannot comment on the majority, especially when it comes to power. Our compounds in such countries have always had generators.
Thanks for commenting @MedvdActual.
Guys, I know it makes a good conversation at the bar to chime in with opinion. However, since we're talking about technology specifically Electrical Power Distribution, can we be objective keeping it to the technology, or processes involved to run said technology that are affecting the lapses in power. Possibly, please include references to where you got the information.
Take in mind since electrification is increasing so rapidly most of the numbers are out of date if their 4-5 years old. For example, Kenya increased Electrification from around 20-30% to 70-80% from 2010-2018.
Ethiopia also plans to have an electricity surplus and be selling electricity after they finish filling the Renaissance dam. The dam has enough power to not only meet Ethiopia’s electricity needs but actually meet Two Ethiopia’s needs and thus excess electricity will be sold to nearby countries like Kenya which is aiming to be 100% electrified by 2022. Ghana didn’t meet its 100% electrified plan by 2020 but its well on its way. By 2030 probably somewhere around 10 more African Countries will join the 90%+ club (a bit higher than the current global average) and making it roughly 20/54 countries in total.
NigerianNightmare thank you so much for the effort in identifying and sharing the articles. Reading through them was insightful. I did, identify some communication anomalies in the first article. I tag them as anomalies since, again, we're talking about technology (electrical power distribution). The paragraph I'm referring to is below.
---##---- Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that following inadequate gas, poor transmission infrastructure and shortage of distribution facilities, there has been a decline of Nigeria's electricity supply from 3,993.65 megawatts to 3,608. Read more: https://www.legit.ng/1336191-top-10-...ectricity.html
---##----
This is mostly a discussion of technology right? So from the first highlighted word -"inadequate", can they identify in units the amount of gas needed to supply the volume of electricity needed. Also, for the second word "poor transmission infrastructure" have they conducted audits and identified if poor means old, wrong model, or wrong design. Also, thirdly is the "shortage" of distribution facilities. What number of facilities exactly is needed to achieve optimal power supply.
Also, since an issue with transmission infrastructure, can the electrical flow there be managed by scheduling the load using scheduled outages as is the practice in some metropolitan areas?
[Editing to add opinion on mini-grids]
So a common element I found in the countries that were successful in increasing their electrical supply is the use of mini-grids. I mean, would it not benefit the lagging countries as a whole? I mean for the countries that are not increasing their supply is their anything blocking and impeding the implementation of these mini-grids that have already proven their effectiveness in off-grid electrification.
Thanks again for participating. I think focused discussions like these are needed. I certainly would love to hear your follow-up response @NigerianNightmare.
Last edited by Morpheuss; 12-11-2020 at 11:28 PM..
Reason: added comment on mini-grids.
Take in mind since electrification is increasing so rapidly most of the numbers are out of date if their 4-5 years old. For example, Kenya increased Electrification from around 20-30% to 70-80% from 2010-2018.
Ethiopia also plans to have an electricity surplus and be selling electricity after they finish filling the Renaissance dam. The dam has enough power to not only meet Ethiopia’s electricity needs but actually meet Two Ethiopia’s needs and thus excess electricity will be sold to nearby countries like Kenya which is aiming to be 100% electrified by 2022. Ghana didn’t meet its 100% electrified plan by 2020 but its well on its way. By 2030 probably somewhere around 10 more African Countries will join the 90%+ club (a bit higher than the current global average) and making it roughly 20/54 countries in total.
Also, to extend my engagement to your response @NigerianNightmare. Is there any reason why river bodies like the Blue Nile in Ethiopia aren't leveraged in a similar effort that is being exercised now to build the 6.45 Gigawatt gravity dam currently underway in Ethiopia. In a similar effort of course is referring to the joint cost-sharing by Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia to execute the project. I'm assuming of course that a series of dams that provide an aggregate amount of power similar to the Ethiopian dam should also be on the table.
NigerianNightmare thank you so much for the effort in identifying and sharing the articles. Reading through them was insightful. I did, identify some communication anomalies in the first article. I tag them as anomalies since, again, we're talking about technology (electrical power distribution). The paragraph I'm referring to is below.
---##---- Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that following inadequate gas, poor transmission infrastructure and shortage of distribution facilities, there has been a decline of Nigeria's electricity supply from 3,993.65 megawatts to 3,608. Read more: https://www.legit.ng/1336191-top-10-...ectricity.html
---##----
This is mostly a discussion of technology right? So from the first highlighted word -"inadequate", can they identify in units the amount of gas needed to supply the volume of electricity needed. Also, for the second word "poor transmission infrastructure" have they conducted audits and identified if poor means old, wrong model, or wrong design. Also, thirdly is the "shortage" of distribution facilities. What number of facilities exactly is needed to achieve optimal power supply.
Also, since an issue with transmission infrastructure, can the electrical flow there be managed by scheduling the load using scheduled outages as is the practice in some metropolitan areas?
[Editing to add opinion on mini-grids]
So a common element I found in the countries that were successful in increasing their electrical supply is the use of mini-grids. I mean, would it not benefit the lagging countries as a whole? I mean for the countries that are not increasing their supply is their anything blocking and impeding the implementation of these mini-grids that have already proven their effectiveness in off-grid electrification.
Thanks again for participating. I think focused discussions like these are needed. I certainly would love to hear your follow-up response @NigerianNightmare.
I know nothing about the author's prose. I didn't write the article and don't know why they used the words they used to describe the situation.
On mini-grids, I know fairly little about electrification itself. I just no it's been increasing across the continent rapidly, and I know a bit of the political situation behind some of the decisions made. I would have to educated myself more on electrical grids and the pros and cons of a large system versus a bunch of mini-grids to truly be able to answer you question. Sorry about that, I would love to help more but this isn't my area of expertise (I don't really have one).
Also, to extend my engagement to your response @NigerianNightmare. Is there any reason why river bodies like the Blue Nile in Ethiopia aren't leveraged in a similar effort that is being exercised now to build the 6.45 Gigawatt gravity dam currently underway in Ethiopia. In a similar effort of course is referring to the joint cost-sharing by Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia to execute the project. I'm assuming of course that a series of dams that provide an aggregate amount of power similar to the Ethiopian dam should also be on the table.
Their are many reasons. Almost all of them geopolitical. The Rennaisance dam for example has been highly controversial in that region of Africa because of Egypt's geopolitical situation. The Nile is the most important body of water in that country by far, and damming it even if their maybe benefits down the road to Egypt itself means that the country has less control over the waters that metaphorically "feed" it's country.
Here are some good videos of the conflict over the current Dam and why for any other dam to be completed, the upstream countries need to have a firm grasp on their geopolitical situation before acting. While Egypt isn't the strongest economy in Africa, it likely has the strongest military.
As Africa has the most countries in the world and borders that are less than Natural, these disputes over water are bound to be far more frequent than other countries. Asia is in similar situation with Turkey planning to dam waters that go to Iraq and China planning to dam waters that go into India and SE Asia.
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