Gas-to-power opportunity in Africa: A question of scale

The African continent is rich in natural resources – renewable and hydrocarbon – from which to produce power far beyond its needs. Yet its power sector, particularly in the sub-Saharan region, is wholly inadequate and fails to serve its industrial and commercial base and growing population. No single power source will solve all of Africa’s problems. Its electricity demand measures in gigawatts, not megawatts, and few renewable technologies can rapidly address the scale of the challenge. Gas-fired generation is easy to run, fast to construct and far cleaner than coal, but is not universally available. For locations where enough power demand exists, either near the coast (which can be served by imported LNG) or with access to upstream resources, gas-to-power (GTP) projects have a significant role to play. Gas Matters explores some of the critical elements of successful GTP projects in Africa and the key challenges facing project developers.