by Joseph Ngwawi – SANF 07 No 26
Southern Africa will spend about US$7.9 billion over the next three years to boost power supplies and a further US$32 billion on longer-term electricity generation projects.
Energy ministers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) resolved at a meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, on 25 April that member states should undertake short-term generation projects that will add 6,700 megawatts (MW) of power to the regional network.
The short-term projects will cost US$7.88 billion and should be ready by 2010, according to the ministers.
The regional network is administered by the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) Coordination Centre in Harare.
“The regional generation surplus is expected to increase by 5,000MW from generation projects in progress by 2010,” the energy ministers said in a statement issued at the close of the meeting.
The SADC region has been projected to run out of surplus generation capacity in 2007.Current installed capacity in the region is 53,000MW but the dependable capacity is only about 41,000MW.
The loss of surplus generation capacity would affect the region’s economic integration programme, which envisages the creation of a SADC Free Trade Area in 2008, a customs union by 2010 and a common market by 2015.
The region’s electricity generation capacity has not increased in tandem with the growth in demand for power occasioned by the rapid expansion of the regional economy.
Power demand growth has averaged three percent a year over the past decade, spurred by economic expansion of around five percent.
Since 2004, SAPP member utilities have commissioned rehabilitation projects that have contributed 1,140MW to the regional grid.
“The regional energy shortfall is currently 1,000MW, without a reserve margin of 4,000MW,” the ministers revealed, adding that the shortfall is expected to be reduced to zero through the implementation of short-term projects.
A number of long-term generation projects are also lined up, some of which will be ready by 2020.
“The SAPP members shall undertake long-term generation projects, which shall add 32,000MW to the SAPP network at a cost of US$32 billion,” the energy ministers said.
The region’s flagship long-term project is the Western Corridor Power Project (WESTCOR), a giant five-country initiative that will exploit the environmentally friendly, renewable, hydroelectric energy of the Inga rapids site in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The energy ministers acknowledged the “likely contribution of WESTCOR as a renewable large-scale hydroelectric power generation, power transmission and broad-band telecommunications project.”
The project will add about 3,500MW to the regional power grid and will result in the development of associated telecommunications and transmission infrastructure in the western part of SADC at an estimated cost of US$7 billion.
The WESTCOR project is a joint venture involving the power utilities of Angola, Botswana, DRC, Namibia and South Africa.
The ministers’ meeting also witnessed the signing of two memoranda of agreement. These were the Revised SAPP Inter-Utility Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and another between SAPP and Regional Electricity Regulators Association (RERA).
The SAPP Inter-Utility MOU forms the basis for the power pool’s management and operating principles.
The MOU with RERA formalises the relationship between regional energy regulators and SAPP and will allow RERA to work “formally with SAPP in recognition of the benefits to be achieved in respect of their respective goals, capacity building and harmonisation of rules and regulations.”
