Divide and Conquer: How Decentralized Power Generation Can Alleviate Sub-Saharan Africa’s Electricity Challenges

Decentralized power facilities, sources that generate electricity much closer to the consumers, are touted to be vital in improving Sub-Saharan Africa’s power supply situation. We take a close look at their benefits.

It has been highlighted, time and again, that Sub-Saharan Africa is home to close to a billion people without access to reliable electricity. The region’s electricity challenges may be attributed to several factors, most notably to insufficient connectivity particularly in rural areas, and intermittent power supply.

A recent study by Afrobarometer, a pan-African research network, illustrates that only 45% of rural areas enjoys access to the electric grid across 36 African countries considered. In fact, countries like Burundi, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Niger, Guinea, Liberia and Mali have extended the electricity grid to only a third or less of their territories. The inadequate grid extension and connectivity is stark in the West and East African countries, and in a number of Southern African countries, including Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi.

But, even as various areas in Sub-Saharan Africa are connected to national power network, they are still not guaranteed to receive a constant reliable supply of electricity. For instance, 14% of grid-connected consumers in South Africa, 44% in Zimbabwe, 33% in Zambia, 23% in Botswana, 19% in Namibia and 15% in Kenya, say they still suffer from regular power outages and load shedding. This can be largely attributed to inadequate power generation, high transmission losses, and limitations in power distribution.

A case for Decentralized Power

Decentralized power generation systems can help countries in Sub-Saharan Africa alleviate their present power generation and transmission challenges. Several technologies can be implemented as a decentralized power generation system, including solar, wind, hydro, and temporary power plants running on diesel or gas.

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Decentralized power generation systems will prove beneficial on several levels to Sub-Saharan African countries. Below are some of the highlight advantages of decentralized power generation technologies:

Flexibility

Decentralized power generation systems, like rental power plants, can be easily mobilized, installed and operated anywhere in the world, even in the remote areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. They can even be installed in areas without sub-stations, and can be directly connected to the grid regardless of its quality or age.

They can be completed and powered on in a matter of days, and can be rapidly demobilized once the area of service is already connected to the permanent centralized power plant. They do not require a huge upfront investment, and as such, do not have long payback periods. Instead, governments or power utility providers can pay for the rented electricity in regular intervals over a contracted term.

An example is Altaaqa Global’s natural gas temporary power plants in Douala, Cameroon, which were installed and powered on in as little as 21 days from the time the equipment arrived at the intended sites. The power plants, because they comprised modular and containerized power equipment, were easily delivered from the point of origin in the Middle East, to the port in Douala, to the power plant sites, and were successfully installed despite space limitation.

The power plants have been consistently producing a combined 50 MW since they were turned on, easing the pressure on the main grid and reducing electricity demand at peak times. They have been instrumental in lessening the power supply deficiency and reducing the instances of load shedding in Douala.

Scalability

Temporary power plants, as a decentralized power generation system, are highly scalable in that their output can be increased or decreased depending on the prevailing requirement. The power provider can simply add or subtract generators to or from the power plants to customize their output. The result is that the rental power plants generate the exact amount of electricity as demanded, so the power plants do not inefficiently run on part-load, and that the governments or the power utility providers do not pay for unutilized capacity.

Diversity

As above, there are several technologies that can be implemented as decentralized power generations systems. The good news is these technologies may complement each other to ensure their efficiency and reliability. For example, temporary diesel or gas power plants can support solar or wind energy sources at times when sunshine or wind is insufficient to produce the desired amount of electricity. Rental power plants can also take up the electricity load during low-rain or dry seasons, when the hydropower systems have limitations in producing electricity.

Efficiency and Reliability

The US Energy Information Administration reports that up to 7% of the electricity generated by central power plants is lost in transmission and distribution. Turning to decentralized power generation technologies, like temporary power plants, can reduce the transmission and distribution losses because they are installed nearer to the consumers.

Moreover, rental power plants are regularly serviced and maintained by trained and qualified service engineers and technicians, and monitored and evaluated by competent certification bodies so their optimal energy performance and reliability is guaranteed.

For instance, Altaaqa Global’s 50 MW natural gas power plants in Cameroon have recently been awarded an ISO 50001:2011 certification for energy performance, making Altaaqa Global the first and only rental power company to have received the recognition. The plaudit was a testament to the power plants’ energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness and environmental stewardship.

In addition to the above, decentralized power generation technologies can support various environmental initiatives in vigor in several Sub-Saharan African countries due to their environmental conscious operations. As a case-in point, temporary power plants running on natural gas comply with worldwide emission standards, while solar or wind power sources are completely renewable and contribute in conserving natural energy resources.

For example, Altaaqa Global’s natural gas temporary power plants in Cameroon was handpicked by Eneo to support its existing power facilities, owing to their reliability, energy efficiency and environmental consciousness, which perfectly fits Cameroon’s sustainable energy initiatives.

Electricity and Africa’s Development Agenda

As an emerging region, Sub-Saharan Africa needs electricity to support its economic priorities and other development areas. At present, even as the economic focus of governments in Sub-Saharan Africa are in areas directly related to basic issues of livelihood (employment, healthcare, water supply and agriculture), they are gradually working on various initiatives to ensure the region’s energy future. While their long-terms plans are coming to fruition, decentralized electricity technologies, like rental power plants, can supplement existing centralized power facilities to provide the electricity when and where needed.

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Overcoming Power Transmission and Distribution Limitation: A Case for Distributed Power Generation

Sub-Saharan African economies have been exhibiting notable growth in the past years, on the back of a formidable performance from their industrial, manufacturing, services and technology sectors. This feat is nothing short of impressive, as sub-Saharan African economies are achieving these successes with much of its resources still left to be utilized, mainly owing to the deficiency in electricity in many of its areas.

At present, there are still approximately 600 million people in Africa that do not have access to electricity. From a global standpoint, almost 48% of the world’s population without access to electricity are in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, only seven countries – Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa – have electrification rates exceeding 50%. The rest of the region’s rate hover in the area of 20%.

In this light, increasing the region’s access to reliable electricity should be a priority and an urgent necessity to ensure that Africa maximizes its economic potential.

Hurdling challenges in delivering power

One of the salient power-related challenges that sub-Saharan African countries are facing is distributing power across its territories. Building the necessary infrastructure to efficiently deliver power across vast and remote areas is not only cost prohibitive, but may also take years to complete. Delays in the completion of essential power infrastructure, due to issues in funding, regulatory approval, construction or commissioning, result not only in tangible financial losses, but also in lost economic opportunities, owing to deferment of or interruption in commercial and/or industrial activities.

Such an adverse repercussion can potentially be avoided by turning to distributed power. There are instances when power generation capacity is sufficient, but distribution systems are constrained and unable to deliver the electric power to households, businesses and industrial areas. Distributed power systems, like temporary power plants, are the ideal solution to electricity distribution limitation.

Temporary power plants represent a readily available, flexible, scalable, reliable and cost-efficient solution to overcome power distribution limitation.

They can be transported from and to anywhere in the world, and can be installed and powered on in a matter of days, reducing turnaround time and immediately supplying power to residents, businesses and industries. They are able to fully function in virtually any site, including those where power infrastructure, like grids or substations, is outdated, constrained, damaged or absent.

They are flexible in power and voltage, and are scalable to match their power output to the precise power requirement of any site. For instance, power utilities can choose to put additional power modules to the existing temporary power plant in case the power demand increases at any point in time. This can be done without causing any interruption to the supply of electricity. Similarly, when power demand goes down, the temporary power plan can be scaled down.

Temporary power solutions also address challenges in terms of financing and operational affordability. Power utilities can turn to temporary power solutions without spending scarce resources on capital purchase. They can pay for the temporary power from their operating revenues, and can save on operating and maintenance expenses, owing to the fuel efficiency and reliability of temporary power plants.

When the need to boost power distribution has been fulfilled, power utilities can choose to simply end the contract, and the installed temporary power plants will be demobilized. There will be no permanent infrastructure or purchased equipment left idle or that should be regularly maintained, because the entire power solution package was simply hired.

While electricity generation has increased in most countries across sub-Saharan Africa, there still exist power distribution challenges that hamper the delivery of quality electricity to the general population. In many sub-Saharan African countries, efficient electricity distribution is generally limited to large cities and industrial areas, with the overall electrification rates remaining repressed. Distributed power technologies, like temporary power plants, can help bring power to the larger public. By resolving power distribution limitation, more people and businesses in sub-Saharan Africa will enjoy a reliable supply of electricity, which can potentially pave the way for the region’s sustainable economic development.

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The 10 Biggest Power Outages Ever Recorded

Power outages can cause severe economic and social distress. A prolonged disruption of electric power, particularly on a larger municipal, district or regional scale, can have immense adverse effects on health, safety, and commerce & industry, so power utilities should be prepared to respond to cases of wide-spread power interruption.

We have trawled the Web to trace the 10 biggest power outages recorded in history. Here is what we found out…

1. July 2012, India

In what could be the biggest power outage in the world, the blackout in India in July 2012 left an estimated 620 million people without electricity. The outage was ascribed to the tripping of a circuit breaker, owing to a spike in electricity consumption during one of the hottest seasons ever recorded.

2. January 2001, India

In January 2001, almost 230 million people lost power due to a fault in the transmission system in one state, which caused a cascading failure throughout the other states in India’s northern region.

3. November 2014, Bangladesh

A failure of a power transmission line from India to Bangladesh caused a power outage that left more than 150 million people without electricity.

4. January 2015, Pakistan

Eighty per cent of the country, or 140 million people, was left without electricity after an explosion at a power plant caused a backward surge of electricity to the facility. This caused the tripping of power lines, leading to a cascading effect throughout the country’s grid.

5. August 2015, Indonesia

Caused by a major transmission line failure, and the consequent disengaging of several power plants, the power outage of August 2015 in the Indonesian islands of Bali and Java left more than 100 million people without electricity.

6. March 1999, Brazil

Ascribed to a lightning strike that caused cascading failure throughout Southern Brazil’s power infrastructure, the largest power outage in the history of Brazil left 97 million people without electricity.

7. November 2009, Brazil and Paraguay

When transmission lines from the power station at Itaipu were tripped by a major thunderstorm, 87 million people from Brazil’s most populous states and the entire country of Paraguay were left without electricity.

8. August 2003, US and Canada

Known as one of the “Northeast Blackouts” of the past century, the power outage of 2003 affected 55 million people. The outage was blamed to a technical error that caused the control room alarm system to fail to alert controllers about overloaded transmission lines, leading to widespread grid distress.

9. September 2003, Italy

With the exception of the island of Sardinia, the entire country of Italy lost electricity, leaving 55 million people in the dark. The investigation revealed that the outage was caused by a system overload following a storm damage to a power line coming in from Switzerland. This consequently tripped power lines running in from France.

10. March 1978, Thailand

A generator failure in a single power plant caused a nationwide grid shutdown for an entire day, causing inconvenience to more than 40 million people.


Multi-megawatt rental power plants are the ideal solution to stabilize the grid and support power networks. They are immediately available, can be deployed at a moment’s notice to anywhere in the world. They can be easily installed and are capable of continuously supplying reliable electricity in a matter of days. Temporary power plants can be easily connected to existing power infrastructure, and can generate electricity in sync with the local power generation plants or as a standalone system. They are flexible in power and voltage, and their output can be scaled up or down to meet varying electricity demands.

In hiring rental power plants, utility companies need not worry about capital expenditure; in fact, they will have significant savings in the operation and maintenance of the temporary power plants, owing to their reliability and fuel efficiency.

The effects of power outages to people, businesses, industries and social services can be devastating. Without electricity many of the most important needs of the modern society will go unmet. Because electricity plays such a vital role in our daily lives, its reliable and continuous supply is of utmost importance.

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Quick Facts: How can rental power plants support utility companies?

Rental power plants can replicate or supplement permanent power plants. They are fully able to provide reliable electricity in times of:

• Power plant failure
• Hydropower shortage
• Natural disasters
• Peak demand
• Maintenance or upgrade of power infrastructure

Temporary power plants prove highly beneficial in:

• Overcoming transmission and distribution limitations
• Powering remote locations
• Electrifying areas without grid connection
• Providing electricity ahead of transmission line construction

Modern rental power plants utilize generators with:

• Outstanding fuel efficiency
• Low noise
• Low exhaust emissions

Owing to the advancements in rental power technologies, temporary power plants guarantee exceptional performance and considerable operating cost reduction for end-users. Utility companies can reap the benefits of high reliability and cost-savings as they turn to renting power, in times when permanent power plants have stopped working or when they become increasingly expensive to run as they age.

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