- Africa Solar PV capacity could rise to 600GW by 2030 according to a report by Becquerel Institute and the German Solar Association (BSW-Solar)
- The report analyses the renewable energy markets in 16 African countries and presents four scenarios for solar PV growth on the continent.
- The least optimistic is based on current policies and trends and predicts that solar capacity will increase from 6.6GW to about 70GW on the continent.
Africa is set to see an increase in solar PV installations in the coming years. This is according to the Intersolar Solarize Africa Market Report, published by the Becquerel Institute and the German Solar Association (BSW-Solar) with support from Intersolar Europe. By analysing the market conditions in 16 countries on the continent, the report presents potential scenarios that could occur in the future. The report acknowledges that renewable solutions are being prioritised for electrification and do also have high political backing in many African countries. However, it notes that the rate of installation over the past year have remained low.
Currently, Africa presents only one per cent of global PV capacity with about 6.6GW installed. This report analysed the PV markets for 16 countries as well as the regulatory conditions and outlook for PV installations. Based on its investigations, the report highlights four potential scenarios for Africa’s PV future.
Based on current policies and current expansion plans, the report predicts that the continents’ cumulative PV capacity Will reach approximately 70GW by 2030. The “solarize Africa accelerated” scenario, presumes that PV development in Africa will be the same as the global rate and will lead to 170GW of installed capacity by 2030. The “solarize Africa paradigm shift” presumes that African markets will in some respects skip the fossil age and accelerate renewable energy adoption. This scenario combines installed PV capacity with the targets of the Paris Agreement and predicts a total capacity of 600GW by 2030.