Africa and the Middle East installed 894MW of new wind energy capacity last year, a 7% decrease on the 962MW added in 2018, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).
However, faster growth is on the horizon with GWEC Market Intelligence’s preliminary forecasts expecting 10.7GW of new capacity to be installed between 2020-2024, an increase of 167% on current market status.
In 2019, the leading countries in the region were Egypt (262MW), Morocco (216 MW), Jordan (190MW) and Ethiopia (120MW).
Over the next five years, South Africa will be leading the growth trend in the region with an additional 3.3GW of wind energy capacity installed by 2024.
Elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, the significant potential for wind energy remains clear, with the SADC region alone accounting for 18GW of wind energy potential in emerging markets such as Zambia, Tanzania, Namibia, and Mozambique, GWEC said.
In North Africa and the Middle East, GWEC said over the next five years there will be a surge of growth in markets such as Egypt (1.8GW), Morocco (1.2GW) and Saudi Arabia (1.2GW).
GWEC Africa task force chair and Siemens Gamesa African market development director Jon Lezamiz said: “Africa and the Middle East are endowed with fantastic wind resources, and the industry is committed to supporting policymakers in the region to reap the benefits wind power can provide for their energy systems and economy.
“In those countries with proper frameworks and stable bankable pipelines, we are already seeing a local supply chain being developed, such as Siemens Gamesa’s blade factory in Morocco, to meet wind energy demand increases while providing local jobs to build a long-term industry and economic opportunity in the region.
“We see many exciting developments in the region including construction starting on hybrid renewable projects, increases in regional cooperation and opening of markets to corporate PPAs, all of which we are convinced will drive growth in the coming years.
“However, as unlocking the full potential of the wind sector has not yet been encompassed and electricity demand continues to grow, we at GWEC are ready to support governments and key stakeholders to create the appropriate frameworks that would fix the adequate pace and, thus, create a visible long-term, stable bankable project pipeline.”
GWEC chief executive Ben Backwell said: “Challenges such as policy and power market frameworks, transmission infrastructure bottlenecks, and off-taker risk must be overcome in order for Africa and the Middle East to take full advantage of their wind potential.
“GWEC has published the Africa Wind Energy Handbook as a tool to support policymakers in the region to overcome these challenges, bringing together the knowledge and experience of the industry to apply to the unique contexts of each market in the region.
“This will be crucial as the region’s energy demands, GDP and population are set to grow significantly over the next decade, as wind can provide a decentralised, cheap and reliable energy source to increase electrification rates and support this growth.”