Yemisi Izuora
Following failure by African leaders to latch into growing renewable energy revolution to provide electricity to several millions of Africans without access to electricity which increased for the first time since 2013 and the continent now accounts for almost 80 per cent of the world’s population without electricity, genset power systems is now set to boom.
While change is now a constant in Africa’s energy market as the transition to cleaner technologies gathers momentum, demand for modern genset power systems appears as robust as ever
One of the two 1,000kVA diesel generators that power the residential skyscrapers at Azuri Towers in Nigeria.
In a continent where reliable power is not taken for granted, gensets have long filled a gap, providing crucial energy and peace of mind for industrial sites, hospitals, residential users, and many others. These gensets power, or provide back-up, to some of Africa’s most vital industries, ranging from remote mining sites to offshore oil platforms.
The solidity of the market is reflected in providers continuing to seek out opportunities on the continent. For instance Rolls-Royce Power Systems, from its headquarters in South Africa, is planning to strengthen its presence in eastern and western African markets offering the complete Rolls-Royce product portfolio for power generation. This includes mtu diesel and gas gensets, UPS systems, battery containers and complete decentralised energy systems.
Some of its mtu diesel gensets were recently installed to power Lagos’s three 140 metre-high Azuri Towers. Two emergency gensets based on mtu engines now guarantee that the electricity never fails at this flagship development.
Oriental News reports that Nigeria is currently facing a persistent grid collapse challenge. In the last nine years, the national electricity grid has collapsed more than 200 times.
Experts have called foe an urgent reassessment of the current status of the grid and how consistent, reliable energy can be guaranteed.
The power outages, which prevent people from meeting routine business and household needs, result in huge economic and social costs. In sub-Saharan Africa, every 1 per cent increase in power outages (in terms of hours) has been associated with a 2.86 per cent decrease in gross domestic product (GDP). This translates to a loss of about $28 billion in GDP.
There are also health risks from the emissions of inefficient petrol generators, which are widely used in Nigeria. It is estimated that electricity generator sets consume $22 billion worth of fuel yearly.
The grid collapsed twice in March 2022 within 48 hours.
There are a number of factors to explain this situation and thus inform what needs to be done about it. They include insufficiently trained personnel, deficiency in local manufacturing, poor utility performance, theft of grid equipment, weather, gas supply, insufficient funding and the age of grid infrastructure.