- Botswana-Namibia green hydrogen project expanded from 1GW to 5GW.
- Kenya currently leads the continent in the single-panel SHS household solar market.
According to the Africa Solar Industry Association, plans for massive renewable-powered green hydrogen project in Botswana and Namibia have been quadrupled, from 1GW to 5GW of generation capacity. When AFSIA chief executive John van Zuylen hosted a webinar on Thursday to present the organization’s annual report for 2021, the project in Southern Africa was among the examples cited by the trade body as evidence of a strong large scale solar pipeline on the continent.
According to AFSIA, Kenya is leading the charge in the typically single-panel SHS household solar market. Still, West Africa also recorded strong figures last year. Currently, there are about 20 million SHS units operating in Africa, benefiting 100 million people.
According to the trade body’s annual report, more units were sold although the systems’ size was smaller than the previous year. In addition, there was an increase in the adoption of such small scale solutions to power irrigation and cold storage. However, according to AFSIA, there is still a gap between project announcements and delivery, with only about 30% of the mini-grid projects announced in 2020 materializing.
The solar industry membership body reiterated the suggestion that Africa considers harnessing the green hydrogen output. For example, countries like Algeria and Namibia could offer South Africa’s rich renewables potential to establish domestic ammonia and fertilizer industries rather than simply preparing to export the clean hydrogen used to manufacture such commodities.