Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: Electricity as we know it has been around for several centuries,
Speaker 2: and yet in twenty twenty four, there's still many parts
Speaker 2: of the world where people don't have access to it.
Speaker 2: Here in South Africa, where I'm speaking to you from,
Speaker 2: blackouts have eased slightly, but that's after years of intensified
Speaker 2: blackouts which crimped South Africa's economy. And we're not the
Speaker 2: only ones on the continent. Other African countries are dealing
Speaker 2: with similar issues. So what could be the solution. Solar
Speaker 2: has to be our default go to technology to resolve
Speaker 2: the energy crisis in Africa. The energy source is the sun.
Speaker 1: It's free.
Speaker 2: More and more nations see photovoltaic or PV energy as
Speaker 2: an opportunity to light up our.
Speaker 1: For cut of breaking news. You guys, the sun does
Speaker 1: not shine twenty four hours a day.
Speaker 2: But is the sun really the answer to power shortages
Speaker 2: on the continent. And there's also the question of climate change.
Speaker 2: How can the PV industry produce solar panels resistant to
Speaker 2: extreme weather conditions. That's what we're going to discuss today
Speaker 2: with Bloomberg's energy reporter Paul Berkhart. I'm Jennifer's Abasaja and
Speaker 2: this is the Next Africa Podcast, bringing you one story
Speaker 2: each week from the continent, driving the future of global
Speaker 2: growth with the context only Bloomberg can provide. Paul, thank
Speaker 2: you so much for joining us. So let's start by
Speaker 2: looking at the big picture. Many parts of the African
Speaker 2: continent are still in darkness and in some countries it's
Speaker 2: very common to have power shortages, as we mentioned, how
Speaker 2: do you explain that.
Speaker 3: If you look across the entire continent and there's about
Speaker 3: population of around one point two billion, almost half of
Speaker 3: that population doesn't have access to electricity. And in the
Speaker 3: entire world that numbers about eight hundred million people who
Speaker 3: live in energy poverty, so the vast majority live in Africa.
Speaker 3: The amount of people without access to electricity has actually
Speaker 3: gone up in recent years. Some of that's due to
Speaker 3: population growth, but a lot of the time it's because
Speaker 3: people just live in very remote areas and utilities that
Speaker 3: don't have the resources to connect them already.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that brings us to South Africa, of course,
Speaker 2: which we talk about quite a bit in this newsroom,
Speaker 2: but also when you talk about population not being able
Speaker 2: to serve the population Nigeria is also something that comes
Speaker 2: to mind there. How would you describe the Nigerian situation
Speaker 2: in particular.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Nigeria is really the big one when it comes
Speaker 3: to poutages, and they kind of they laugh at South
Speaker 3: Africa in terms of the power cuts that we have
Speaker 3: here because I think it's just become the thing of
Speaker 3: everyday life there. So almost a third of African countries
Speaker 3: have more generator capacity than they do like an installed
Speaker 3: grid capacity, and that's because of the reliance on your
Speaker 3: own power source. Nigeria is the absolute leader in that
Speaker 3: it's up to you as a resident, as a homeowner
Speaker 3: or as a business to solve that problem if you
Speaker 3: live in Nigeria.
Speaker 2: But she would think it would be a public good
Speaker 2: right to have electricity, especially when it comes to business,
Speaker 2: which is why it's surprising that there isn't more investment
Speaker 2: that has gone towards the sector.
Speaker 3: Absolutely in South Africa, it's even been seen as a right.
Speaker 4: You should have a right.
Speaker 3: To electricity or the tools of development should be accessible
Speaker 3: to everybody. The utility that generates like almost all the
Speaker 3: electricity in South Africa's ESCAM, and it's dealt with a
Speaker 3: lot of different issues corruption, mismanagement depends on bailout and
Speaker 3: ESCOM itself believes that it's not charging enough for electricity,
Speaker 3: so most of all it's become prone to breakdowns. We've
Speaker 3: had record power cuts that again pale in comparison to Nigeria's,
Speaker 3: but they're still very bad.
Speaker 2: Solar energy will be the dominant source of renewable energy
Speaker 2: by the end of the decade.
Speaker 3: You know, Africa has ten thousands you go ups so
Speaker 3: love to show.
Speaker 2: So then, Paul, that brings to the question about solar right,
Speaker 2: I mean, this could be a very obvious answer for
Speaker 2: these black opps, especially in many of these countries which
Speaker 2: have I think a majority of their days are with
Speaker 2: the sun out right. Why haven't we seen this tapped
Speaker 2: as much as it could be?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say on the positive side, Africa has
Speaker 3: some of the best solar resources in the world. Namibia
Speaker 3: I think is on the very top of the list,
Speaker 3: and then there are a lot of other African countries
Speaker 3: that not only get strong solar power, but they get
Speaker 3: year round. But still it depends on what you're using
Speaker 3: it for austrial application, you can't necessarily do that with
Speaker 3: solar alone.
Speaker 4: You would need kind of utility scale batteries. It is used.
Speaker 3: Looking on a limited basis in a lot of places
Speaker 3: and in remote areas where you can charge your phone
Speaker 3: or radio kind of basic things, but it can also
Speaker 3: work for homes. And what we see in South Africa
Speaker 3: as there have been more power cuts is they've actually
Speaker 3: installed up to I think five gigawatts of solar panels
Speaker 3: at this point, and so if you have an inverter
Speaker 3: and you have solar panels, then you can basically get
Speaker 3: off the grid and you don't have to rely on ESCAM.
Speaker 3: The problem with that is these systems are between one
Speaker 3: hundred thousand rand and two hundred thousand rand for the
Speaker 3: whole thing, and that's more than a lot of South
Speaker 3: Africans earn in a whole year. So it's just not affordable.
Speaker 2: So then we're likely going to see more and more
Speaker 2: people finding their own ways to power their homes. Essentially,
Speaker 2: is that sort of the model that is really going
Speaker 2: to start spreading across the continent, because as you mentioned,
Speaker 2: there are some people who can afford it right to
Speaker 2: have solar panels at their homes, but their next door
Speaker 2: neighbor may not have that. Is it just going to
Speaker 2: be a broken up grid more and more.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a huge issue. It's going to create even
Speaker 3: more inequality in a place like South Africa or Nigeria
Speaker 3: because those who can afford to generate their own power,
Speaker 3: they'll do that and they have been doing that, and
Speaker 3: those who can't, and for those who it'll become increasingly expensive.
Speaker 4: That sort of leaves them.
Speaker 3: In an area where they have to find solutions and
Speaker 3: there really aren't many coming up.
Speaker 2: After the break, we'll be looking at the economic potential
Speaker 2: of the photovol take industry for Africa and other renewable energies.
Speaker 4: We'll be right back.
Speaker 1: It is a pretty exciting time to be in the
Speaker 1: solar industry. Our projections tell us that this year our
Speaker 1: industry is going to grow by about fifty two percent.
Speaker 2: So we've seen a number of projects rising up over
Speaker 2: the years when it comes to solar power. But I
Speaker 2: wonder if you take a look at the continent, who
Speaker 2: would you say, which country would you say is leading
Speaker 2: the solar race.
Speaker 3: As it stands, it's South Africa. So there was this
Speaker 3: program that started a little over a decade ago for
Speaker 3: private developers to build renewable power and it was very
Speaker 3: successful until it got blocked for political reasons, but still
Speaker 3: South Africa would be much bigger, but that could change
Speaker 3: pretty quickly. There are opportunities throughout the continent. This Morocco,
Speaker 3: Egypt and local manufacturing assembly takes hold, then that's really
Speaker 3: the accelerator, and so they've been looking for that in
Speaker 3: South Africa. That's really what would cause like a massive
Speaker 3: change and for projects to be built.
Speaker 2: But still the manufacturing, at least the local manufacturing you're
Speaker 2: talking about, has it yet gained enough team on the continent.
Speaker 2: Is that sort of the assessment you'd give it.
Speaker 3: That's right, Yeah, I think you see maybe to a
Speaker 3: small degree, some assembly that takes place, but otherwise, like
Speaker 3: a lot of this just comes in imported.
Speaker 2: What are we hearing, Paul from the public sector on this,
Speaker 2: because this ultimately is affecting these economies, right, Is there
Speaker 2: enough will to address the grid and the disparities really
Speaker 2: between who has and who doesn't have power.
Speaker 3: We're starting to see a little more of a convergence.
Speaker 4: We have some of.
Speaker 3: These there's some foreign funding available and then that would
Speaker 3: in turn bring in more private investment, and so we're.
Speaker 4: Starting to see more and more of that.
Speaker 3: South Africa has had a very successful to some degree
Speaker 3: program to bring in more renewables, even going back to
Speaker 3: twenty eleven. But I think what's accelerated now is the
Speaker 3: shortages of electricity in South Africa, and so it's really
Speaker 3: in a way it could force more solution, but the
Speaker 3: funding just in large part isn't there. Their grants and
Speaker 3: their loans, but there are a lot of other political
Speaker 3: issues around whether to take some of this money and
Speaker 3: just the amount of money that's needed.
Speaker 4: There's still quite quite a ways to go.
Speaker 2: And that of course factors into the climate situation, right
Speaker 2: and the effect that is then having on the whole
Speaker 2: entire situation. I mean, I wonder in your time, since
Speaker 2: you've been covering this, if you still think that we
Speaker 2: are on the right track, even given sort of the
Speaker 2: climate emergencies and the extreme weather events that we're seeing
Speaker 2: across the continent.
Speaker 3: That's a great point, because we see more and more
Speaker 3: of them here and Africa's ironically is like extremely exposed,
Speaker 3: more so than a lot of other places to the
Speaker 3: effects of climate change. And I think as people experience that,
Speaker 3: then that firsthand experience becomes more of a motivator to
Speaker 3: change things.
Speaker 4: But still we see these changes.
Speaker 3: When we see some of the issues around for example,
Speaker 3: switching from coal for South Africa, and what's going to
Speaker 3: happen with the mining industry and what happens with those
Speaker 3: jobs and where do these jobs in the renewable industry,
Speaker 3: where will they come from?
Speaker 4: That needs to be explained. You know.
Speaker 3: Again, we'll see the private sector really be able to
Speaker 3: source the.
Speaker 4: Power and the electricity that they need.
Speaker 3: But there's a much bigger issue in a country like
Speaker 3: South Africa, for example, more than sixty million people, the
Speaker 3: vast majority are going to be trying to figure out
Speaker 3: what they're going to do about getting electricity.
Speaker 2: What about it being tapped potentially and I mean solar
Speaker 2: paul it being tapped potentially as an opportunity for African government.
Speaker 2: You mentioned how plentiful the resources are, right, Are we
Speaker 2: at the point yet where some governments can potentially sell
Speaker 2: their solar access or their solar power to other parts
Speaker 2: of the world or are recent on early days we.
Speaker 4: See opportunities even within Africa.
Speaker 3: There's some countries that are looked at exporting electricity the
Speaker 3: way South Africa used to really and now they need
Speaker 3: all the power that they can get.
Speaker 4: But there are opportunities.
Speaker 3: There's certainly opportunities in Morocco and other countries that are
Speaker 3: so close to Europe.
Speaker 1: In the North African desert. One country is embracing this
Speaker 1: bright feature. Morocco has just switched on the world's largest
Speaker 1: solar power plant. Soon energy from these skies will be
Speaker 1: exported to the richest economies in the world, with the
Speaker 1: potential to transform the lives of millions.
Speaker 3: And even in terms of green hydrogen and these other
Speaker 3: energy options that are coming up, you absolutely can export
Speaker 3: those things. And yes, the governments can look at this
Speaker 3: as an opportunity and they could find some success. Then
Speaker 3: maybe it has quite a bit of discussions going on
Speaker 3: about their green hydrogen projects for example. But I think
Speaker 3: even if you look at energy resources in terms of
Speaker 3: oil and gas, what African countries still need if they're
Speaker 3: exporting these things are programs at home. What is this
Speaker 3: doing for your own power supply? So not only do
Speaker 3: the places that you're sending electricity to have power, but
Speaker 3: more importantly that you have power.
Speaker 2: Yourself, absolutely, and that's what the citizens are waiting for
Speaker 2: as well. Paul Burkhart, thanks so much Paul for joining us.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 2: As Paul mentioned, the resources are there, the need for
Speaker 2: the population is as well. What's most pressing at this
Speaker 2: point is the funding and the will to commit to
Speaker 2: the solar project's long term as they do take a
Speaker 2: long time. As Paul mentioned there. This program was produced
Speaker 2: by Adrian Bradley and Leon Wadrago. Don't forget to follow
Speaker 2: and review this show wherever you usually get your podcast.
Speaker 2: I'm Jennifer's Abasaja. Thanks as always for listening.